It's Better With Two
by TimeLordPrime
Summary: This is the sequel to War of the Guardians and is the continuation of that universe. The story of Rose Tyler and the Doctor continues as they travel together through time and space with the two of them united against whatever the universe has to throw at them. These are the exciting adventures that they have while rediscovering the love between them that began so long ago.
1. Reunion of the Daleks Part 1

IT'S BETTER WITH TWO

I do not own Doctor Who, and I am making no profit off of this.

**This is the sequel story to War of the Guardians and takes place right after Chapter 100 of that series. **

CHAPTER 1

Reunion of the Daleks Part 1

Ian and Barbara Chesterton were enjoying a nice, normal evening in their home when they heard a familiar sound just outside their front door. They had last it heard about a year ago when they had both run across the Doctor and his granddaughter, Susan, again for the first time in almost 50 years. It was the sound of the TARDIS materializing.

Both of them ran outside to see the familiar blue box was indeed parked right outside of their door. The doors swung open to reveal Rose Tyler standing there. Her eyes lit up at the sight of them, and she hugged them both tightly. Both of them had met Rose the last time that they saw the Doctor and Susan, and they were quite shocked to discover that not only was she the Doctor's wife but also Susan's grandmother.*

"It's so nice to see you two again. It's been almost a year for you, right?" Rose asked as she sniffed the air to determine what the date was with her time sense.

"Yes, that's right. It's nice to see you again too. Are the Doctor and Susan with you too?" Ian asked.

"The Doctor is but not Susan this time around I'm afraid. She's traveling with my daughter, Jenny, these days. You remember her, right? You met her the last time that I saw you," Rose answered.

"So it's just the two of you these days then?" Barbara asked.

"Not always. We travel with some friends and family usually, but this time the Doctor and I decided to take a trip with just the two of us. We've been through some hard times lately what with me being dead for a while and all. We wanted to have a little time just to ourselves after an experience like that. I think he missed me," Rose said as she whispered the last sentence almost conspiratorially to Barbara.

Ian and Barbara looked at each other and exchanged a smile. Only the Doctor and now Rose apparently would treat being dead as just a minor inconvenience.

"Yeah, I know what you're thinking. She's lost it. You might not be far off the mark either. Maybe I have started to lose it a little lately. If you only knew what all I've been through, you'd think that it was a wonder that I wasn't stark raving bonkers. Luckily for you, I'm just my usual slightly crazy self," Rose joked.

"There's nothing crazy at all about you, Rose. You're perfectly normal," the Doctor reassured her as he finally emerged from the TARDIS and smiled at his old friends.

"That expert diagnosis coming from a man that most of our classmates at the Academy always considered 'a little odd'. That makes me feel so much better," Rose said with a giggle.

"I'm not odd at all, Rose. You, more than anyone else, should know that I'm just always slightly ahead of the curve. That just makes me seem odd to everyone else who still haven't caught up to me yet. I'm just unappreciated in my own time because I'm just too brilliant that's all," the Doctor babbled.

"Yes and you're so humble and down to earth as well," Rose quipped.

"No, I have to admit that I'm not really humble at all. Who could blame me though as clever as I am? I do tend to get a swelled head, and that's what I have you around for. You keep me grounded," the Doctor said.

"Really? Is that the only reason that you want me around?" Rose asked with fake anger.

"Oh, no. There are lots of other reasons too, of course," the Doctor said.

"Such as?" Rose asked with a growing look of irritation on her face.

"Well you're absolutely brilliant for starters, and you usually get to the solution of a problem at almost the same time as I do. You've also proven quite useful to me in giving me vital clues on occasion that help me to save the day that much quicker," the Doctor said with a smug grin.

"Oh, I'm so glad that I could help you solve things quicker. Is that why you keep me around then? I'm your 'go to' gal?" Rose asked with an even angrier look on her face.

Ian and Barbara looked at each other for a second and each knew without speaking that they were both wondering if this was a real fight or just flirting. They honestly couldn't tell.

Rose broke character for just a second to give them a quick smile, and they now knew that this was just a game that they were playing with each other. Barbara thought that it was sweet that a couple that had been together this long would still act this way towards one another.

"No, you're much more than just my 'go to' gal. You're my everything, Rose Tyler. You're my reason for existing and getting up in the morning when I bother to go to sleep at all that is. You're the one who gives me my get up and go and helps to replenish my mojo when it's running too low. You're what keeps my hearts beating day in and day out. You're just so . . . cool! That's it. You're the Queen of Cool! You're even cooler than me, and that's saying something because everyone knows just how cool and amazing that I am!" the Doctor said with a big goofy grin on his face.

Rose's fake frown quickly transformed into one of her face wide grins with her tongue sticking out of her teeth as she said, "Yes, you are pretty amazing, aren't you?"

"And cool too. Don't forget cool," the Doctor added with a serious face.

"Of course, Doctor. That too," Rose said as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"Why don't the two of you come in?" Ian asked them.

"Thank you very much, Ian. I'm sorry for just dropping in like this. I didn't even know myself that we were coming here though until we arrived," the Doctor said.

"You and that TARDIS. We never did know where we were going to wind up next when we traveled with you, and neither did you. You never did know how to make it work properly," Barbara said with a fond smile on her face.

"That's rubbish, Barbara. I always knew where I was going. I just made it appear that way at the time so that I appeared more human and vulnerable in order to fit in better with the two of you," the Doctor said.

"That's a wonderful tactic, Doctor. I'd almost believe that was true if I didn't know about you failing your TARDIS driving test many, many times," Rose said.

"Rose! I told you after the last time to never mention that again to any of my friends. Sarah Jane was still laughing at me for weeks afterward every time that I saw her," the Doctor said with a groan.

"I have to hear that story sometime," Barbara whispered in Rose's ear.

"I'll tell you every detail. You're going to love it," Rose whispered back.**

"I heard that," the Doctor said pouting.

"Still think I'm cool?" Rose asked mischievously.

"More than ever," the Doctor said as he kissed Rose this time.

"So did the TARDIS bring you here for a reason then? It always seemed to take you to places where there was trouble," Ian said.

"I'm not sure, Ian. Maybe the old girl just got nostalgic and wanted to see the two of you again," the Doctor reasoned.

"You don't really believe that though, do you?" Barbara guessed.

"No. Nothing's ever that simple. I'm sure that there's some terrible menace or other running around here right now even as we speak," the Doctor said gloomily.

"He's always so upbeat and optimistic, our Doctor," Rose joked.

"He's probably right though," Ian admitted.

"Oh, I know that he is. I just don't want to admit it. I've been having too good a time seeing the two of you again. I don't want it to end so quickly," Rose said with a serious face now.

"What do you know?" the Doctor asked Rose.

"I know what you already suspect, Doctor. You can feel their presence, can't you? You always could," Rose said as her eyes glowed with golden energy.

"Whose presence?" Barbara asked.

She had seen Rose use her abilities the first time that they had met so seeing Rose's eyes glow produced no reaction in her. She was used to having to adapt to strange new things both when she was on the TARDIS and in her classroom. She had had some students after all who she could swear were aliens.

"Some of them probably were just like Susan was once," Rose said.

"What?" Barbara asked in confusion.

"Sorry, Barbara, I accidentally picked up on your surface thoughts and was just saying that some of your students probably were aliens. I didn't mean to read your mind. It just happens sometimes when someone's surface thoughts are loud enough. As to the answer to your first question . . . ," Rose said and then trailed off before she could finish her last sentence.

"You can tell us, Rose. We grew used to being in danger a long time ago," Ian prodded her.

"It's the Daleks, isn't it? I have this odd feeling that I always get whenever they're around," the Doctor asked Rose.

"Yes, it is. I said that I wanted some good old fashioned aliens to fight again, but I really wish that it hadn't been them," Rose said.

"You basically dared the universe to beat us, and it's answering you with the best it's got on its opening salvo," the Doctor said.

"I know. I'll have to learn when to keep my mouth shut from now on," Rose said with a smile.

"Where are the Daleks, and what are they up to this time?" Ian asked as he seemed to steel himself for combat.

"I don't know yet. I just know that they're somewhere close," Rose said.

"We'll just have to go out and explore. I usually find myself bumping right into whatever I'm looking for in the first few minutes of trying to find it. I'm really lucky that way," the Doctor said.

"Or unlucky depending on your point of view," Rose added.

"Well, I kept bumping into you after we first met, didn't I? I consider that very lucky," the Doctor said.

"You really are quite the charmer in this regeneration, aren't you? I like this version of you even if you do have a big chin," Rose said with a snicker.

"Oi!" the Doctor protested.

"Hey, it could be worse. At least your ears are normal this time," Rose quipped.

"I thought that you liked the ears. You once said that they were . . . ," the Doctor started to say.

He suddenly stopped because he had just received a sharp glare from Rose that told him to stop talking immediately. Sometimes the Doctor forgot that he shouldn't mention certain things except when they were alone.

"I said that they were fantastic. That's what I said," Rose quickly said to cover up his sudden silence.

"Yes, that's right," the Doctor said in a bad attempt at covering up.

Barbara laughed at the two of them, and Ian could barely repress a smile himself. Rose's face grew red in embarrassment, and she quietly resolved to slap the Doctor very, very hard once they were alone. The Doctor started to shake inside just a little because he saw that look on Rose's face. It was a look that meant that he was going to get hurt later on. He absentmindedly rubbed the side of his face without realizing it.

The Doctor, Rose, Ian, and Barbara then decided to go out around the neighborhood in Ian's car and attempt to find any traces of the Daleks' presence among them. The Doctor had his sonic screwdriver out and was using it to scan for Dalek signals while Rose kept trying to find them with her Vortex powers. Neither of them was having much luck so far. That worried Rose a lot. What could block her abilities like that?

In an underground base made out of dwarf star alloy, the Daleks lay in wait until they were ready to begin their newest plan. They had chosen this as the ideal location to hide from the watchful eyes of their enemies, and the dwarf star alloy helped to keep them from detection. No one would ever think to look for them here until it was too late.

"CONFIRM ESTIMATED TIME UNTIL PROJECT REBIRTH BEGINS," the Dalek Supreme ordered one of its subordinates.

"PROJECT SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN LESS THAN 6,000 RELS," a Dalek reported.***

"SOON WE WILL STOP THE DEFECTION OF ROGUE DALEKS TO THE FALSE EMPRESS. ONCE PROJECT REBIRTH IS COMPLETED, HE WILL RETURN; AND THEN THE DALEKS WILL EXTERMINATE HER," the Dalek Supreme said.

"EXTERMINATE HER! EXTERMINATE HER! EXTERMINATE HER!" the assembled Daleks shouted out together in a chorus of hatred.

***This story is told starting in Chapter 5 of The Adventures of Rose Tyler, Time Lady.**

****See Chapter 43 and 44 of The Adventures of Rose Tyler, Time Lady to see the story for yourself.**

***** 6,000 rels is equivalent to 2 hours in our time. **

**Next: The Doctor and Rose come across the Daleks as the Doctor's usual good, or is it bad, luck comes into play. What are the Daleks up to anyway? Who is the False Empress, and what is Project Rebirth? Some readers of a certain other title of mine will already know the answer to one of these questions.**


	2. Reunion of the Daleks Part 2

CHAPTER 2

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Reunion of the Daleks Part 2

The Doctor, Rose, Ian, and Barbara had gotten out of the car a long time ago and were now just walking aimlessly around the area trying to find some kind of clue as to where the Daleks might possibly be hiding from them. Rose was having no luck at all in finding them, and this was beginning to worry her. She knew that that most likely meant that they had found some way of blocking her powers from getting through. She had heard from a friend that the Daleks were making their bases out of dwarf star alloy now to avoid detection, and that would certainly block even her abilities.

She pulled out her Vortex screwdriver to see if she could find just the dwarf star alloy by itself. She could find no trace of it. She groaned in frustration, and the Doctor looked at her with a sympathetic smile on his face.

"It's okay, Rose. I can't find the dwarf star alloy either," the Doctor said.

"So you figured it out too. I should have known. You're always at least two steps ahead of everybody else," Rose acknowledged.

"Not with you, Rose. I'd say that we're fairly even. You're just as brilliant as me," the Doctor said.

Rose stared at him in astonishment as she said, "I've never heard you admit that anyone was as smart as you before."

"That's because you are, Rose. I have to say that if I want to be honest; and plus if I don't say that, you might hurt me," the Doctor admitted.

Rose knew that the Doctor was saying that because he knew that she had gotten mad when he had embarrassed her before. She smiled at him and surprised him by giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?" the Doctor asked with a grin.

"That was just for being you. I'm just so glad that I'm still here to hear you say stupid stuff like that," Rose said with tears appearing in the corners of her eyes.

The Doctor hugged her tightly to him and said, "It's alright, Rose. It's all over now. You're okay."

"Doctor, is something wrong?" Barbara asked as she eyed the formerly happy Rose with concern.

"Well, it's like she told you. She died recently. She was actually totally disintegrated by one of our enemies. A friend of hers brought her back thankfully. I think that all of that is only just now hitting her," the Doctor explained.

"I thought that you were just joking. I'm so sorry, Rose," Barbara said with her voice filled with compassion.

"So am I. I wouldn't have been so callous about it if I had known that it was for real," Ian agreed.

Rose broke away from the Doctor's hug as she said, "It's not your fault, either of you. I got upset because it is just now hitting me like the Doctor said. I said it to you like it was a joke because I didn't want to dwell on it. It's alright though. I'm okay now. Don't worry about me."

"Rose, maybe you should sit this one out," the Doctor suggested with concern in his voice.

"I said that I'm fine. There's no need to be overprotective of me. I can take care of myself. I am 230 years old after all," Rose said indignantly.

"I didn't mean anything by it," the Doctor said softly.

"I know. I'm sorry. I'll be alright, Doctor. I really will. Finding the Daleks and stomping them into the ground just like the old days will do me a world of good," Rose said with a warm grin.

"Well then, let's get back to looking for them then. Let me think about this. If I were a Dalek trying to hide from me or better yet you, Rose, then what would I do? I'll just have to think like a Dalek," the Doctor said, suddenly back in his usual cheery mood that he used to mask his real emotions when he needed to.

"Don't go too far with that, okay? I don't want to have to smack you like I did the last time when you pretended to be a Sontaran. You really got on my nerves yelling 'Sontar-Ha!' every second for an hour. If you do that with 'Exterminate', I might just burn off your bow tie!" Rose threatened.

The Doctor looked horrified at the thought of that as he said, "You wouldn't!"

"Oh, but I would!" Rose said with an evil grin on her face.

"There's no need for that, Rose. I'll behave," the Doctor said with a terrified expression.

"You'd better," Rose said with a firm look of conviction on her face.

Her face quickly turned soft though as her true emotions came through. She smiled at him warmly as she said, "Doctor?"

"Yeah, Rose?" the Doctor asked with concern.

"Thank you! That made me feel better," Rose said gently.

"Threatening my bow tie, which never did you any harm by the way, makes you feel better?" the Doctor asked with a crazed grin on his face.

"It certainly does. You always know how to make me feel better," Rose said with heartfelt emotion.

"Any time," the Doctor said with a serious expression.

Ian and Barbara looked at each other with a small smile. If they hadn't known it before, they certainly knew it now. The Doctor and Rose really did love one another very deeply. The Doctor wasn't happy unless she was, and he would do whatever it took to accomplish that. Even acting like a complete fool just to make her laugh.

"I think that I may have found what we've been looking for," the Doctor said as he studied the ground with intent interest.

He took a piece of dirt from the ground and licked it making Rose gag.

"Do you have to do that?" Rose asked.

"I'm trying to gather clues. I think that I've found some evidence of the Daleks having been in this area recently. My sense of taste is detecting the tang of Dalek metal casings having recently been on the ground here," the Doctor said.

The Doctor licked his lips, and then made Rose gag again as he licked the dirt once more.

"I also taste a small trace of fuel from a Dalek shuttle. They've landed here recently I'd say in the last few months," the Doctor said.

He saw Rose looking at him with disgust, and he said, "What?"

"You're not kissing me again until you've washed your mouth out about a hundred times at least with some very high powered antiseptic mouth wash," Rose said.

"I was using my highly developed Time Lord sense of taste to find some clues about the Daleks, and I did," The Doctor said defending himself.

"I'm a Time Lord too, and you don't see me licking dirt that I just picked up off the ground! It's disgusting, and you can catch diseases that way," Rose said with a turned up nose.

"I never figured you for a prude, Rose Tyler," the Doctor said indignantly.

"If not wanting my husband to lick dirt is being a prude, I'll gladly stand condemned for it then," Rose said.

"You have to admit that it is a little off putting, Doctor," Barbara said.

"Barbara's just being nice. It's repulsive is what it is. If I ever catch you doing that again, I'll slap you into next week," Rose said.

"My loving wife, people! She acts more like her mother each day," the Doctor said.

"Here we go with some more cracks about my mother," Rose said.

The ground was suddenly torn apart as a Dalek emerged from underneath it and shouted, "THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD WOLF DETECTED. THEY WILL BE EXTERMINATED! EXTERMINATE!"

Rose disintegrated the Dalek with a single glance as pure Vortex energy poured out from her eyes in a massive burst of power. She then turned her attention to the ground, and it split apart into a massive crack at the slightest gesture from her hand. The dirt quickly reshaped itself into steps made out of solid rock that led deep down into the bowels of the earth.

"Since when could you do that?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Since I came back from the dead with the powers of a Great Old One," Rose explained.

"You never told me that. So you mean you have power like that of the Great Intelligence or the Animus now?" the Doctor asked in amazement.

"Yes. I haven't even begun to explore what I can do yet. I've kind of been too wrapped up in the whole coming back to life thing to think about it until now," Rose admitted.

"The Animus? I haven't heard that name in a while. The Animus was extremely powerful. It devastated the planet Vortis with its power, and you're saying that you have power like that now?" Ian said with trepidation in his voice.

"Yes, but you don't have to look at me with worry like that. I'm still the same old Rose. I'd never do the kinds of things that the Animus did," Rose said as she tried to reassure him.

"I know that. I never doubted that, Rose. You're much too kind to ever be like the Animus. I was just feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought of you, of anyone really, having that much power at their disposal," Ian said.

"It's one of the reasons I've been feeling upset lately. It's overwhelming to me too. Don't worry though. I'm getting used to it. Wasn't that ingenious, by the way, what the Doctor and I just did?" Rose asked as she switched topics.

"What do you mean?" Barbara asked.

"We knew that the Daleks must be underneath here somewhere so when the Doctor found traces of them in the dirt, we set up that argument in order to draw them out. We just thought that up on the fly through our telepathic link. We knew that if their advanced sensors detected us arguing up above them long enough and loud enough that they wouldn't resist being able to send someone to attack us. Thankfully, it turns out that we were right, and they just revealed the location of their hidden base to us because of their homicidal instincts giving them away," Rose explained.

"Yes, it was a pretty good plan, huh? Rose's pretending to get so disgusted at my licking dirt. It was a stroke of genius if I do say so myself," the Doctor said with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Who was pretending? I meant what I said. You're washing your mouth out before you get one more kiss out of me," Rose said firmly.

"Fine! Let's argue about this later. Right now, we've got a Dalek base to walk down to," the Doctor said.

"Alright then, lead the way. Follow the dirt licker," Rose said to Ian and Barbara.

Ian and Barbara were struggling not to burst out laughing as they followed the two Time Lords down deep underneath the ground. Just as the light from above started to fade, and Barbara began to wonder how they would be able to go any further without it; Rose lit up all over her body with Vortex energy. Now they could suddenly see all the way down to the Dalek base hundreds of feet below them.

"Who needs a torch with me around, eh?" Rose said with a soft smile.

As the stairs began to get steeper the further down that they went, Ian and Barbara found it harder and harder to keep their balance; and Ian began to fear that one or both of them might fall soon all the way down to the bottom. Rose sensed this fear in their surface thoughts and created stone railings on both sides of the stairs made out of the molecules of the air around them.

"Sorry. I should have thought about that sooner," Rose apologized with a chagrined look on her face.

After a long and arduous journey down the steps, the four of them finally made their way down to the hidden Dalek base. Just as they reached it, the doors to the base opened and released an army of Daleks that began to attack them immediately.

"EXTERMINATE THEM! THEY MUST BE STOPPED SO THAT PROJECT REBIRTH CAN BE COMPLETED!" the Daleks shouted as they started to fire multiple blasts at the four of them.

"Project Rebirth? Oh, that is just so cool! A big fancy name like that always means that something special is coming our way. Is it a big old fashioned monster? Is it? I could really do with a big old fashioned monster right now. I haven't seen one of those in a while," the Doctor said as he rubbed his hands together eagerly while Rose was swiftly destroying one Dalek after another.

"EXTERMINATE! ANNIHILATE THEM!" the Daleks kept crying out over and over again as they continued to fire.

"You know you should really hire someone new to write your dialog for you. You've been using those same tired old lines for years now," Rose said as she continued to disintegrate one Dalek after another with ease.

The Doctor decided to start pulling his weight during the fight as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and went on the attack. He made some of the Daleks self-destruct while he made others shut down completely and become trapped in their shells.

Between the two of them, the Doctor and Rose had soon demolished the entire Dalek force that had been sent against them within a matter of minutes. They proceeded to enter the Dalek base with Ian and Barbara following close behind them and watching around them warily for any Daleks that might decide to suddenly pop up out of nowhere and attack.

The four of them soon made their way to a large gathering room full of what looked like hundreds of Daleks that made all of them, even Rose, grit their teeth in fear. So far the Daleks hadn't seen them because they all had their backs turned to them as they faced the other side of the room.

That fear that they had all felt upon seeing so many Daleks suddenly shot up several notches as a door opened at the other side of the room; and a Dalek emerged from it saying, "PROJECT REBIRTH IS COMPLETED! THE EMPEROR OF THE DALEKS LIVES! HE WILL NOW LEAD US TO VICTORY AGAINST THE FALSE EMPRESS! WE WILL FINALLY EXTERMINATE OSWIN OSWALD! ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!"

**Next: The Emperor of the Daleks has returned! What does this mean for The Doctor, Rose, and Oswin? Find out more about the answer to that question in the next chapter. Also River Song arrives with some new friends of hers that she just has to have the Doctor and Rose meet. If they live long enough, that is. **


	3. Reunion of the Daleks Part 3

CHAPTER 3

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Reunion of the Daleks Part 3

The Emperor of the Daleks appeared at last and addressed the Daleks for the first time since Rose had destroyed him back on the Gamestation. He looked quite different from the way that he appeared the last time that Rose and the Doctor fought him. This time the Emperor was in a gold Dalek casing that looked more or less like that of the other Daleks except that it was much bigger. The Emperor was easily three times the size of a regular Dalek. He also had a huge gun with a wide barrel in the place of his gun stalk. The suction cup arm had been replaced by a mechanical hand and arm that looked similar to Davros' except that it was much stronger than his.

"I HAVE RETURNED TO LEAD THE DALEKS BACK TO GLORY ONCE MORE. FOR FAR TOO LONG HAVE WE BEEN PLAGUED BY THIS FALSE UPSTART WHO WISHES TO BE THE EMPRESS OF THE DALEKS. DAVROS HAS LED US DOWN THE WRONG PATH AS HE HAS MADE ONE TERRIBLE DECISION AFTER ANOTHER. HE HAS ALLOWED THIS WOMAN THE OPPORTUNITY TO INFILTRATE US BY WEAKENING US FROM WITHIN AND MAKING MANY OF YOU SO DISSATISFIED WITH HIS DECISIONS. HE EVEN ALLOWED A TIME LADY TO LEAD US INTO BATTLE AND TO COMMAND THE ONCE MIGHTY DALEK ARMIES. THE DALEKS HAVE BECOME THE LAUGHINGSTOCKS OF THE UNIVERSE. THAT WILL NOW CHANGE. WE WILL BECOME A FORCE TO BE FEARED ONCE MORE. BRING ME OUR ILLUSTRIOUS CREATOR. I WOULD HAVE WORDS WITH HIM," the Emperor said.

Davros was brought before the Emperor in chains. He glared at the Emperor and stared at him in defiance.

"How dare you turn against your creator like this? You have no right to treat me this way!" Davros complained.

"I HAVE EVERY RIGHT. I AM THEIR LEADER. THEY BROUGHT ME BACK BY A UNANIMOUS DECISION SO THAT I COULD DELIVER THEM FROM YOUR BUFFOONERY. YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE, AND NOW IT HAS ENDED. YOU ARE THE PAST, AND I AM THE FUTURE. THE DALEKS WILL BECOME GREAT ONCE MORE THROUGH ME. DO YOU HAVE ANY LAST WORDS BEFORE YOU ARE PROPERLY DEALT WITH AT LAST?" the Emperor asked.

"The only thing that I have to say is that I will not die this day. I will survive to ensure that you are swept away and your name is removed from the pages of history," Davros threatened.

"EXTERMINATE HIM!" the Emperor ordered.

The Daleks behind Davros turned their gun stalks on him and prepared to shoot him down. Davros just smiled as if he knew something that they didn't.

Suddenly Davros began to glow all over, and he disappeared right in front of the assembled Daleks. They began to scream in outrage and looked everywhere around them in an attempt to find out where he might have gone to.

"FIND HIM! FIND HIM AND EXTERMINATE HIM!" the Emperor shouted.

The Daleks began to move out of the room in order to search for Davros, and that was when they discovered that the Doctor, Rose, Ian, and Barbara had been there watching them the entire time.

"IT IS THE DOCTOR AND THE BAD WOLF! EXTERMINATE THEM!" the Daleks shouted as several of them started to open fire on the four intruders in their midst.

"BRING THE BAD WOLF TO ME. I WISH TO OVERSEE HER DESTRUCTION PERSONALLY," the Emperor ordered.

"Do you? I'll just bring myself to you first then," Rose said.

She gestured in front of her, and the Daleks attacking her all shrank down to the size of mice. She then slowly walked towards the Emperor while Dalek energy blasts bounced harmlessly off of the golden force field that surrounded her.

"Rose, what are you doing?" the Doctor asked her nervously.

"Same old, same old, Doctor. I'm taking down the Dalek Emperor and saving your life from a horde of angry Daleks out to kill you. So it must be Monday," Rose joked.

"YOU WILL NOT SUCCEED THIS TIME. I HAVE GROWN IN POWER SINCE THE LAST TIME THAT WE MET. MY DALEKS REDESIGNED MY NEW SHELL WITH YOUR VORTEX ABILITIES IN MIND," the Emperor said.

"Rose, I really don't like this. I think that we should get out of here," The Doctor warned.

"You know you've really gotten to be a nervous nelly in this incarnation. You seem to have forgotten something, Doctor. I've grown in power too since I last saw the Daleks," Rose said with a smile.

She then proceeded to drain all of the energy out of the Emperor's shell and shut it down. The Doctor meanwhile was using his sonic screwdriver to keep the other Daleks away from Ian and Barbara as he constantly kept switching between various settings so that he was either causing them to self-destruct, shut down, go out of control, or to collide into each other.

Rose had her hands full battling with a large group of Daleks that had quickly surrounded her after she shut the Emperor down in order to prevent her from finishing him off. The Doctor then joined her as the two of them began to systematically take down one Dalek after another.

Ian and Barbara also contributed to the fight as they would sneak up behind any Daleks not quite finished off yet and push them into other Daleks in order to distract them. This helped the Doctor and Rose immeasurably as it would help keep some of the large group of Daleks off of their backs for a while.

With the four of them working together as a team, all of the Daleks that had gotten in between them and the Emperor were soon gone. Rose then moved toward the Emperor to finally get rid of him once and for all. She was going to make sure that his comeback was extremely short-lived.

Rose was taken completely by surprise though when the Emperor suddenly came back to life and shot her with a massive blast from his gun. Rose began to feel sicker than she ever had in her life, and she quickly lost her balance and fell to the floor. She tried as hard as she could, but she was suddenly so weak that she couldn't get back up off of the ground. She now lay before the Emperor helpless to even stand.

"THAT SICKENING FEELING THAT YOU ARE EXPERIENCING IS DUE TO YOUR CONNECTION TO THE VORTEX BEING SUDDENLY SEVERED. HOW DOES IT FEEL TO LIE HELPLESS BEFORE ME? NOW YOUR LIFE IS IN MY HANDS, ROSE TYLER, AND I WILL SHOW YOU AS MUCH MERCY AS YOU HAVE SHOWN TO ME IN THE PAST," the Emperor said as his gun started to glow.

"Rose!" the Doctor said in alarm as he saw her lying on the ground helpless.

It was at that moment that River Song appeared along with three other people. She moved faster than the Doctor has ever seen her move and shot the Emperor with her meson blaster in less than the blink of an eye. The Emperor screamed in pain as the top of his casing exploded and burst into flames.

"Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you render the Emperor of the Daleks speechless," River joked.

The Doctor ran to help pull Rose to safety as River provided him with cover fire from the rest of the Daleks in the room. She soon proved why she was one of the deadliest people alive as she did an extremely efficient job of destroying each and every one of them all by herself.

"Hello, my name's Polly; and these are my grandchildren, Mary and Alex," Polly Jackson said as she introduced herself to Ian and Barbara.

"Your grandchildren?! You look more like their older sister. Then again I'm one to talk. I'm Ian and this is my wife, Barbara. Who is that woman with you? The one who's currently tearing apart the Daleks like they're made of confetti," Ian said as he watched the fight between River and the Daleks in amazement.

"At first she said that her name was Harmony Waters, but now she says that her name is actually Professor River Song. She's a friend of the Doctor's just like I am. I used to travel with him just like you did if I'm not mistaken. You are Ian and Barbara Chesterton, aren't you? The Doctor told me about you a long time ago," Polly said.

"That's us. So you got sucked into the Doctor's world as well. I definitely would like to exchange stories with you some time. If we get out of here alive, that is," Barbara said.

"River's very good. From what I've seen of her abilities with that gun, those Daleks don't have a chance," Polly said confidently.

"Grandma Polly, where is the Doctor? I don't see him here at all. River said that he would be here," Mary said.

"I imagine that that man over there is him. I'm not sure who the woman is though," Polly said.

"How could he be the Doctor? He looks nothing like the man that we met, and he's too young," Alex said.

"I look too young to be your grandmother now, but I am. The Doctor can completely change his appearance and become a new man. I've seen it happen before," Polly said.

"So he just becomes someone completely different whenever he feels like it. That's hard to believe. It can't be the same man," Alex said skeptically.

"Alex, you remind me so much of your grandfather just now. He had the exact same attitude even after watching the Doctor change right in front of him," Polly said with a fond smile.

"I assure you that he is the Doctor, and that woman with him is his wife, Rose," Ian said.

"The Doctor's married?! She must be something else to be able to handle him," Polly said.

"Oh, she is. She keeps him in line like no one I've ever seen," Barbara said with a huge smile.

"What's happened to her? She looks sick," Polly asked in concern.

"I don't know. The Emperor of the Daleks blasted her, and then she fell to the ground. I'm not sure what just happened. I do know that she stopped glowing all over like she usually does when she's fighting so I assume that he must have done something to her that took her powers away," Barbara answered.

"She glowed all over and had powers?" Polly asked.

"Yes, she has these incredible powers that she can use to do many amazing things with," Ian said.

"Just like your daughter," Polly said to Mary.

They had recently met her granddaughter Mary's future daughter when she had traveled backwards in time to save Polly's life and make her as young as she once was when she traveled with the Doctor in the process. She now realized that she must have gotten her powers from Rose because Mary was supposed to marry one of the Doctor's sons in the future according to the Black Guardian.*

The Doctor came up to them now as he helped to support the extremely weak Rose who could barely walk. He recognized Polly immediately and now finally realized just who Harmony Waters had been and which of his future selves that she had taken Polly to.

"Hello, Polly. It's been a long time since I've seen you even if it's only been a few minutes since you last saw me. This is my wife, Rose. She's had something terrible done to her, and I really need to get her out of here so that I can try to help her fix it. All of you need to come with me. River will keep the Daleks from bothering us while we make our escape. We have an awful lot of climbing to do I'm afraid so it's going to be a long journey. It's times like these that I really wish that I had a remote control for the TARDIS," the Doctor said.

"Lucky . . . for you . . . I have . . . one for . . . mine," Rose said with a very weak smile as she pulled a remote out of her pocket.

She pressed a button on it, and they could all hear the sounds of a TARDIS materializing nearby. They raced towards the direction of the noise to see a pink sports car in front of them. The door to the trunk of the car, which was also the door to the interior of the TARDIS, opened; and a very worried looking Shareen Costello, who was Rose's friend and traveling companion, stepped out of it.

"What's happened to her?" Shareen asked.

"I'll explain later. We're got to get out of here now while we still can," the Doctor said.

"You're going to be alright, Rose. I promise," Shareen said as she helped Rose into her TARDIS.

"I've . . . lost contact . . . with the . . . Vortex, Shareen," Rose said in a weak voice.

"It doesn't matter. We'll fix it for you, sweetie. You'll be fine. You'll see," Shareen said as she tried to reassure her.

All of the others got into Rose's TARDIS as the Doctor called out, "Hurry, River. We're leaving."

River aimed at the ceiling and fired at it several times bringing pieces of it down in front of her and the Daleks. She then quickly made her escape as she ran in the direction that the Doctor's voice had come from. She sprinted inside of Rose's TARDIS, and the Doctor soon dematerialized it taking them all to safety.

"Where are we going now?" Polly asked the Doctor.

"This is just like old times with you asking me that question, isn't it? We're going to get Rose some help. We're going to visit the one person who may actually know something about whatever weapon that was that the Emperor just used on her, Oswin Oswald," the Doctor explained.

"Oswin will know what to do, Rose. I'm sure of it," Shareen said as she continued to try to comfort her friend.

Back at the underground Dalek base, the Emperor began to glow all over as he disappeared in a blaze of energy. Then, seconds later, the glow disappeared; and he was fully healed with his shell repaired once again.

"MY REGENERATION IS COMPLETE. I AM TRULY IMMORTAL NOW. THE TIME LORDS CAN KEEP TRYING TO DESTROY ME, BUT THEY WILL NOT SUCCEED. FOR EACH TIME THAT THEY TRY TO DESTROY ME, I WILL BE REBORN," the Emperor said.

"ALL HAIL THE EMPEROR!" the Daleks said in a chorus.

"NOW THAT I HAVE HUMBLED THE BAD WOLF, WE WILL TAKE THE FIGHT TO OUR GREATEST ENEMY. BRING ME ALL OF YOUR INTELLIGENCE ABOUT THIS SUPPOSED DALEK EMPRESS. WE MUST SEEK, LOCATE, AND EXTERMINATE OSWIN OSWALD!" the Emperor commanded.

On a hidden world somewhere deep in space, Davros watched the Emperor give out orders on a monitor screen. He had planted a listening device in the Dalek base when he realized that he was about to be overthrown so that he could still keep tabs on whatever his adversary was up to.

"That pompous idiot will not rule long. I will see to that," Davros said.

"See that you do. This Dalek Emperor must be taken care of. He does not fit into our plans therefore he must be eliminated. Silence will still fall!" a voice said from behind him.

"Oh, it will, my friends. It certainly will," Davros said with an eye patch over one eye as he looked at a large group of the Silence that surrounded him with a huge smile on his face.

***This story is told in greater detail in another of my stories, Coming Up Aces. **

**Next: The Doctor goes to Oswin for help in trying to find out just what the Emperor did to Rose. Will Oswin and the Dalek Resistance be able to help Rose, or has she lost her connection to the Vortex for good? **


	4. Reunion of the Daleks Part 4

CHAPTER 4

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Reunion of the Daleks Part 4

The Doctor's TARDIS sped through the Vortex as he tried to contact Oswin Oswald. He hadn't had any success so far. He knew that she wasn't currently traveling with Marissa Queen aka the Rani, her usual traveling companion and her best friend, because she had told him that Oswin had gone to meet with the Dalek Resistance.

The problem was that Marissa didn't know where the Dalek Resistance's base was located. Oswin hadn't told her to keep her safe so that the other Daleks wouldn't come after her to find out anything. That precaution of Oswin's was coming back to hurt the Doctor now though because he couldn't find her to help Rose.

Rose had become very sick and weak ever since the Dalek Emperor had separated her from the Vortex with his new weapon. The Doctor was very worried about her because he didn't know what a prolonged separation from it might do to her. It had been a part of her since she was eight years old after all.

Shareen had told him that something like this had happened before when the Daleks had turned Rose back into a human again for a short time. She had become very sick for a while as she transformed, but then she was normal again. This time though she wasn't getting better. Perhaps she could take the separation as a human but not as a Time Lady for some reason. It could be because Time Lords by nature were so connected to time. He wasn't quite sure.

The Doctor decided to try something devious in order to flush them out. He quickly built a voice modulator and pretended to be a Dalek as he made an audio transmission that would go out throughout the universe.

"THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THE EMPRESS OF THE DALEKS. I HAVE SEVERAL SECRETS TO GIVE TO HER THAT WILL DAMAGE THE MAIN DALEK FORCES. I WANT TO JOIN THE RESISTANCE AND HELP HER TO STOP THE FALSE EMPEROR," the Doctor transmitted in a Dalek voice and then he added a set of coordinates at the end of the message.

"Isn't this very dangerous? It might not be Oswin that shows up but the Emperor instead to stop these supposed secrets from being given away," Ian asked.

"I know that that could happen and probably will, but I don't know of any other way to find her quickly. Oswin seems to be very good at covering her tracks. She's one of the hardest people to find that I've ever met," the Doctor admitted.

"You do know that if Oswin does come, she's going to be exposed to an attack by the Emperor now. She might not come because she knows this," River said.

"Yes, that's true. However, I think that she'll risk that and come anyway to get the secrets if it will help her cause. Oswin is very brave. I'm counting on that bravery to make her come to me," the Doctor said.

"Always manipulating people, aren't you?" River asked.

"I'm trying to save Rose. I'd do anything for her," the Doctor said in a passionate voice.

"I know. If it were you, I'd be acting the same way if not worse," River said.

"River, I . . . ," the Doctor started to say.

"It's okay. I'll always have feelings for you, Doctor, but I know that you love her more than me. I've dealt with that and moved on. I'm actually happy for you. You're happier with her than I've ever seen you. Much as I hate to admit that," River said.

"Thank you for saying that. You know I'd never want to hurt you," the Doctor said.

"I know. You're the man who wants to make people better. That's one of the things I love about you. It seems like opposites do attract sometimes," River said with a grin.

"Already . . . moving on . . . and I'm . . . not even . . . dead yet," Rose joked as she came slowly walking up to them with Shareen's help.

"Rose, we weren't . . . ," the Doctor started to say before he was interrupted by River.

"Will you calm down? She knows that. She was making a joke. She has a wonderful sense of humor. I like that about her. I always say if someone can't laugh in the face of overwhelming danger than they're not worth having around," River said with a grin.

"You're a very strange woman, do you know that?" Polly said to River with a smile.

"You're good. You're figuring that out about me already. Of course that's the tip of the iceberg. I'm also just a little bit crazy," River said with a big grin.

"We . . . could be . . . sisters," Rose commented with a chuckle.

"Are you alright, Rose?" Barbara asked.

"Not . . . really. I'll . . . be okay . . . though," Rose said.

"You can barely speak. You're not going to be okay," the Doctor said worried.

"You . . . worry . . . too . . . much," Rose said with a weak smile.

"You're the most jeopardy friendly person I've ever met, and I know River. Of course, I'm worried about you," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"I heard that little crack. I'm going to ignore it though. For now," River said.

The happy but tense atmosphere in the TARDIS was broken when a voice came through on the console saying, "This is Oswin Oswald. I'm coming to meet you. If this is a trap, you're going to regret it though. I'm bringing friends."

The TARDIS landed at the coordinates that the Doctor had given to Oswin. It was on an old abandoned but still functioning space station that orbited around a deadly planet called Narcissus. The planet was full of lethal gas that had once been released into the atmosphere by accident. Now the space station was here to serve as a warning beacon for everyone not to land there. It transmitted warnings around the clock on all known frequencies and languages to stay away from the planet. The Doctor thought that it was the perfect place to stage a mysterious rendezvous with Oswin.

Within minutes of their arrival on the station, Oswin appeared with a small army of Daleks that answered only to her. Her expression changed from a look of determination to one of shock and worry in the space of a second.

"Rose, what happened?" Oswin asked as she raced to her friend's side.

"The Emperor of the Daleks used some kind of weapon on her to separate her from the Vortex. She's been getting weaker and weaker ever since. Can you help her? Do you know anything about what he could have done to her?" the Doctor asked.

"The Emperor? So he is alive. I had hoped that the reports from our spies were just rumors, but it's true. I have heard reports on a weapon that the Daleks had come up with that was supposed to disrupt telepathic links, communications, and all forms of remote control. It could be used to disrupt the link between Rose and the Vortex too I suppose," Oswin said.

"That sounds likely. Is there any way to reconnect her with it? Do you know exactly how the weapon works? How is it blocking her from the Vortex?" the Doctor asked.

"Dalek Epsilon would know more about it than me. He's been studying all of the Daleks' newest weapons," Oswin said.

"THE WEAPON COATS ITS TARGET IN A NEW KIND OF NANOTECH DEVELOPED BY THE DALEKS. THE NANOTECH BLOCKS AND REPELS VARIOUS FORMS OF ENERGY OR COMMUNICATIONS FROM REACHING THE TARGET. THE NANOTECH CAN BE MODIFIED TO BLOCK OR REPEL DIFFERENT FORMS OF ENERGY AS NEEDED. IT COULD EASILY BE USED TO REPEL THE POWER OF THE VORTEX AND KEEP IT FROM HER," Dalek Epsilon explained.

"How can this nanotech be removed? Is there any way that you know of?" the Doctor asked.

"NEGATIVE. I KNOW OF NOTHING THAT CAN REMOVE OR DESTROY IT. I DO KNOW OF ONE WEAKNESS THAT IT POSSESSES. IT HAS A LIMIT TO HOW MUCH ENERGY IT CAN REPEL. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THAT LIMIT IS," Dalek Epsilon said.

The Doctor began to smile as he said, "I can work with that. Thanks, Epsilon. I never thought I'd want to hug a Dalek."

"PHYSICAL CONTACT IS NOT NECESSARY. I MERELY WISH TO AID THE ALLIES OF MY EMPRESS," Dalek Epsilon said.

"We've been over this before. I'm not an Empress. My name is Oswin," Oswin said firmly.

"I APOLOGIZE, OSWIN. I DID NOT MEAN TO CAUSE YOU OFFENSE. MY AFFECTION FOR YOU MAKES ME GIVE YOU SUCH A TITLE UNCONSCIOUSLY SOMETIMES," Epsilon said.

The Doctor was taken aback by that as he said, "Affection? Daleks don't have affection for anyone."

"These Daleks do though, Doctor. Epsilon especially," Oswin said as she patted Epsilon's casing and displayed her own affection towards him.

"So you think that you can help Rose now?" Shareen asked with her face filled with hope now.

"If there is a limit to what the nanotech can block, then I can overload them. I just have to find out what that limit is," the Doctor said confidently.

"I . . . know . . . what . . . to do . . . then," Rose said as she gestured towards the console where the Heart of the TARDIS was kept.

"I'm not sure about that, Rose. In your weakened condition, we don't know how a massive exposure like that might affect you," the Doctor said with worry.

"It's . . . the . . . only . . . way," Rose said in an ever weakening voice.

The Doctor saw her pale face and began to wonder for the first time if he might not be able to help her this time. He had to find the limit quickly, or her health would continue to fail until it was too late. He decided to take the risk against his better judgment.

"Okay, Rose. You win," the Doctor said.

"Are you sure about this? I don't want anything to happen to her. She's my best friend," Shareen said.

"She's going to die unless the connection is reestablished quickly. We have to do this," the Doctor said.

Shareen reluctantly nodded as Rose briefly squeezed her hand and managed a weak smile at her. She had even lost the energy to speak now. The Doctor and Shareen began to work together to help Rose get back to the TARDIS.

At that moment, the Emperor of the Daleks and his army arrived. They began to fire on everyone instantly, and Oswin's Daleks quickly moved to cover everyone else.

"PROTECT THE EMPRESS. DEFEND HER TO THE DEATH," Epsilon ordered the other Daleks.

"I don't need anyone to protect me, Epsilon. I can fight my own battles," Oswin said defiantly.

She surrounded herself with her force field and began to fire back on the attacking Daleks with her gauntlets that reproduced the same energy blasts as a Dalek gun stalk. She moved forward to attack the Dalek Emperor, and he began to laugh.

"I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS. I WILL CRUSH YOU, AND THEN YOUR PATHETIC RESISTANCE MOVEMENT WILL CRUMBLE. EVERYONE WILL SOON SEE THAT IT IS I WHO IS THE ONE TRUE LEADER OF THE DALEKS!" the Emperor shouted with a raging fury in his voice.

The Emperor and Oswin started to fire on one another as their forces continued to clash. River fired back at any Daleks that got too close to the Doctor, Shareen, and Rose as they made their way back to the TARDIS. Mary and her brother, Alex, then quickly moved forward to help Rose.

"We'll help from here. You need to go take care of those things over there," Mary said to the Doctor.

The Doctor smiled at her appreciatively as he said, "Thank you, Mary Wilkes. I'll remember this."

Polly joined Mary, Alex, and Shareen as they had to practically pick up a steadily weakening Rose. She was now losing all muscle strength entirely by this point. Ian and Barbara held the doors to the TARDIS open as they others carried Rose inside and shut the doors behind them.

The Doctor, River, and Oswin were now the only ones left outside of the TARDIS as they fought side by side with the Dalek Resistance against the Emperor and his forces. Meanwhile everyone inside of the TARDIS was desperately trying to open the console and reveal the Heart of the TARDIS, but they couldn't even budge it.

"We can't move it an inch even with all of us trying to at the same time together," Ian said in frustration.

"It's too bad that Ace isn't here. She could blow it open," Polly said.

"I don't think the Doctor would appreciate us destroying his time machine," Mary said.

"I think that the Doctor would gladly sacrifice the TARDIS for Rose," Barbara said sagely.

"How are we going to get this open? Rose said that Mickey and Jackie had to get a truck to help her open it the first time. We don't happen to have one handy unfortunately," Shareen said in despair.

Rose moved her eyes from her hand to the console over and over until Shareen noticed. Shareen immediately realized what Rose wanted and moved Rose's hand to sit it on top of the console. The touch of Rose's hand seemed to work like a key as the console immediately began to open, and energy began to pour forward from it as soon as her fingers touched it.

Everyone in the console room moved back now as a massive torrent of energy began to pour out of the console and into Rose. Rose slowly stood on her own as she began to laugh with joy. As the console shut itself, Rose continued to glow with energy for a few seconds afterwards before it faded away completely. She felt like a million dollars now.

"Thank you, all of you. I'd be dead right now if you hadn't brought me in here. It worked! I wasn't sure if it would or not, but it worked," Rose said happily.

Then she raced outside of the TARDIS to help the others. The others followed her as they tried to make sure that she was truly alright and not about to fall over at any moment.

Rose raced towards the front lines of the battle to the Doctor's surprise. He turned to say something to her, but she only winked at him as she rushed past him. He knew then that she was up to something, but he had no idea what. He was just glad to have her back happy and healthy again. He shuddered inside as he thought about how close he had come to losing her again so soon after she had died the last time.

Rose didn't stop running until she was right in the middle of the fight between Oswin and the Emperor. She stood in front of the Emperor with a huge grin on her face as if she knew a secret that he didn't.

"IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE MORE LIVES THAN A CAT, ROSE TYLER. NO MATTER. I WILL JUST HAVE TO KEEP TRYING UNTIL I FINALLY GET IT RIGHT. I ONLY HAVE TO SUCCEED ONCE," the Emperor threatened.

"You didn't hear because you only just came back recently, but I've already come back from being killed already. Even if you do kill me, Emperor, it won't take," Rose said with her face now full of confidence.

"WE SHALL SEE," the Emperor said as he fired his gun stalk straight at Rose's chest.

Rose's confidence quickly faded from her face and turned to a look of shock and panic. Oswin knew that something was wrong and quickly put her force field around Rose at the last second before the blast would have hit her.

"What's wrong?" Oswin asked.

"ISN'T IT OBVIOUS? HER POWERS HAVE NOT RETURNED! YOU ARE COMPLETELY HELPLESS NOW AND AT MY MERCY, ROSE TYLER. IT'S TIME FOR ME TO FINALLY FINISH YOU. YOU AND ALL OF YOUR PATHETIC FRIENDS WILL NOW DIE! THEN THE DALEKS WILL REIGN SUPREME!" the Emperor shouted.

"THE DALEKS WILL REIGN SUPREME! THE DALEKS WILL REIGN SUPREME!" the Emperor's Daleks all shouted in a chorus together as they continued to attack.

**Next: It's the final chapter of Reunion of the Daleks (but not of this series) as the others have to stand alone against the Emperor without Rose's powers to help them. It's at this moment that Ace returns. She always did have good timing.**


	5. Reunion of the Daleks Part 5

CHAPTER 5

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Reunion of the Daleks Part 5

The Emperor kept firing at Rose over and over again as he tried to break Oswin's force field. He wanted desperately to destroy her in order to avenge his own death at her hands. The Emperor it seemed knew how to hold a grudge.

Oswin decided that she had had enough of the Emperor trying to destroy her friend. If it wasn't for Rose, she would still be stuck as a Dalek forever. She wasn't about to let her die now and certainly not like this.

Oswin began to fire her gauntlets at full blast right into the Emperor's eyestalk. The blasts destroyed the eyestalk and penetrated through it to the Emperor himself on the inside of the casing. Oswin continued to fire both gauntlets continuously at the Emperor, and he screamed in agony before he and his casing exploded in a massive ball of flame.

"That's Oswin 1, Emperor 0," Oswin said with a laugh.

Her laughter stopped though when she saw the Emperor begin to glow and his body beginning to reform right before her eyes. She instantly knew what was happening.

"Epsilon, they gave the Emperor some less effective version of the Regenerative Element. It's a lot slower than the one that Dalek Omega was treated with, but it still seems to have made him immortal," Oswin shouted to Dalek Epsilon.

"THEN HE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KILL. THE REGENERATIVE ELEMENT WILL KEEP CAUSING HIS BODY AND CASING TO REASSEMBLE FOR ALL OF ETERNITY. HE CANNOT BE STOPPED," Dalek Epsilon said in what almost sounded like despair.

"Cheer up, Eppy. We'll think of something," Oswin said with a confident grin.

"Try to think of it quickly then. He's almost back to normal," Rose said.

"Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades," River said with a mad grin as she blasted the Emperor with her meson blaster before he could finish reassembling.

He began to glow again right away though as his body began to rebuild itself all over again once more, and they knew that they couldn't keep him down forever. At least the others Daleks were not coated with the same chemical formula as the Emperor was, or this battle would have been almost impossible to win. They at least were slowly being destroyed by Oswin's Daleks, who had been treated with the much improved version of the amazing chemical compound that Oswin had stolen from the other Daleks.

Luckily, Oswin had altered the formula on the Dalek net so that the Daleks couldn't use it anymore. It seemed that they must have already dosed the Emperor with some early not as effective prototype of it as they were recreating him.

River continued to blow the Emperor to pieces every time he started to regenerate while the Doctor and Oswin continued to help the Resistance Daleks against the Emperor's forces.

Into the middle of this chaos, Ace suddenly appeared in a burst of energy. She had been trying to find Rose and the Doctor for a while now without any luck. She had actually felt it when Rose was disconnected from the Vortex, and it worried her. She was afraid that something had happened to her friend.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she could see that Rose was okay, but then she did a double take as she could see a force field around Rose that wasn't hers. Why would she be using some other kind of force field? Ace felt a sudden sense of dread as the answer finally came to her. She fervently hoped that she was wrong.

Ace appeared next to Rose and said, "So, just another day at the salt mines, eh?"

"Oh, you know the Daleks brought their Emperor back to life and coated him with some kind of chemical that makes him indestructible. Same old same old," Rose said with a grin.

"So, we have yet another evil psycho coming back from the dead. I hate it when that happens," Ace said as she grinned back at Rose.

"You wouldn't have it any other way though, would you?" Rose asked.

"Of course not because then my life would get boring. I might have to go back to school and start blowing up the lab for fun again. You can't have that. Rose, are you okay?" Ace asked as she suddenly shifted the conversation to what was really on her mind.

"I'm just fine, Ace. Don't worry about me," Rose said.

"You've lost your powers, haven't you?" Ace asked sadly.

"Don't make a big deal about it, Ace. I'm hardly a slouch without powers. Even if I were to lose them, I'd still be pretty hard to beat," Rose said.

"I bet. I guess you're going to find out. Right now though, I'll try to keep you safe. You'd do the same for me," Ace said.

"You need to worry more about the Emperor then me. River can't keep shooting him forever. That gun of hers has to run out of energy sometime. You'll have to see if you can use the Vortex to destroy the Emperor so that he won't return the next time," Rose said.

"I'm on it then. You can count on me. I'm really good at making things blow up so badly that no one can ever put them back together again," Ace said with an evil grin.

"Why am I not surprised?" Rose asked with a giggle.

Ace began to study the Emperor's molecules with her Vortex powers, and she could see the Regenerative Element all over him and how it was recreating him. She could see the entire process of his cells renewing themselves unfolding right before her.

She looked closer and closer until she found the Regenerative Element itself coating every cell in his body and in his metal casing. She began to get a very evil idea and smiled at the thought of it. Wouldn't this just be the best explosion ever if she could pull this it off?

Rose could see the smile on Ace's face. She knew that smile. Ace had it on her face every time that she was about to create a very big explosion.

"Get back! Everyone get back!" Rose screamed as she headed towards the TARDIS.

The Doctor could now see that Ace was there and had that smile on her face that he knew so well from the past. He started to run too. River knew that something must be up if the Doctor was turning his back on the Daleks and began to follow him. Oswin quickly realized that there must be a very good reason that everyone was running so she told her Daleks to pull back at the same time that she did.

While everyone was running for the TARDIS, Ace began to face off against the remaining Daleks and the regenerating Emperor by herself. She watched with a huge grin as the Emperor completely healed himself. This was going to be so much fun!

"THE OTHERS HAVE ALL FLED NOW. THEY KNOW TO FEAR ME. THEY SEE NOW THAT I CANNOT DIE. WHY DON'T YOU JOIN THEM LITTLE GIRL?" the Emperor taunted her.

"I'm not a little girl anymore. I've been grown up for a long time now. I've had to be in order to be able to face monsters like you. Do you know what I do whenever I come across a big blowhard like you that enjoys terrifying people?" Ace asked.

"I NEITHER KNOW NOR CARE. WHY SHOULD I CARE WHAT A STUPID CHILD LIKE YOU, WHO DOESN'T EVEN HAVE SENSE ENOUGH TO RUN FROM THE POWER OF THE DALEKS, MIGHT OR MIGHT NOT DO? IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU DO. YOU WILL STILL BE EXTERMINATED BY MY DALEKS! NO ONE CAN STOP ME NOW!" the Emperor boasted.

Everyone packed into the TARDIS, even Oswin's Daleks, and it quickly dematerialized. Ace smiled from ear to ear as she knew now that she was free to do whatever she wanted.

"Boom!" Ace said.

"WHAT?" the Dalek Emperor said as he and his Daleks surrounded Ace in all directions.

They were about to all open fire on her at once. The Daleks thought that they had her trapped. They were wrong. She had just trapped them.

"I said Boom!" Ace said with a huge grin as she pointed her finger toward the Dalek Emperor.

Then she acted like her finger was a gun and mimicked the motion of shooting him with it.

"BOOM!" Ace shouted.

In the next second, all of the molecules of the Regenerative Element covering every part of the Dalek Emperor's body and casing exploded at once! Ace teleported away and watched from out in space as the Emperor himself became a living bomb. The resulting explosion destroyed not only him and the Daleks with him but also the space station and the planet Narcissus itself. They were all wiped clean in the space of a single second.

Wicked! Ace thought to herself as she watched all of this with a huge smile on her face.

Ace then teleported back to the Doctor's TARDIS. As soon as she reappeared, the Doctor asked, "You did it, didn't you?"

"Yes, it was brill! It was just so Ace!" Ace said with a wide grin all over her face.

"It certainly was," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"What did she do? Why did we have to run into the TARDIS so quickly for?" Barbara asked in confusion.

"Ace has powers just like I have. I guess I should say used to have? Anyway she used them to blow up the Emperor and everything else near him too probably," Rose explained with a sad look on her face.

"Your powers should come back eventually. The Vortex should have burned off the nanotech so it just must be that your body is readjusting to your powers again before they will return," the Doctor said in a sympathetic tone.

"Yeah, sure," Rose said sadly.

"I'm sure that they'll come back, Rose. It'll be alright," Ace said as she hugged her tightly.

Then Ace's eyes widened, and she started to say, "Wait a minute. You . . ."

"Ace! How would you feel about traveling with River for a while?" Rose asked interrupting her.

"What?" Ace asked, momentarily forgetting what she had been about to say.

"I'd have to say the same thing, Rose. What are you talking about? We never discussed this," River said.

"I think that I've taught Ace as much as I can. There are some things that she needs to learn from you. You can teach her about her to protect herself and how to fight. I'd rather that she would not find out how to fight, but she might need to know how someday unfortunately," Rose said.

"The two of you don't want me on the TARDIS anymore?" Ace asked near tears.

"No, that's not it at all, Ace. Of course we want you with us. I just think that there are things that you can learn from River that you can't learn from either of us. It won't be forever, Ace. I just thought that you could go there for a little while. Then when the time is right, you can come back and stay here with us again," Rose said.

The Doctor was looking at Rose questioningly, but he said nothing.

"You promise?" Ace asked.

"Yes, Ace. It won't be forever. Just for a little while. That is if River wants to," Rose said.

"I don't see why not. I could always use someone to teach what I know about explosives to," River said with a wink at Ace.

"Explosives?" Ace asked salivating.

"Oh, yes. I know a lot about explosives. I can teach you about almost every kind of explosive device invented through time and space," River said with a big toothy grin on her face.

"Ace!" Ace shouted with joy.

"Somehow I thought that you might appreciate that. I'd love to have you travel with me and Donald," River said.

"Alright, I'll go with you. It sounds like it's going to be fun," Ace said.

"I'll even give you your own Vortex Manipulator. I know that you don't really need it, but you might like to use it. There may be situations where you may need it," River said.

"I doubt that I'll ever really use it much, but I'll give it a try," Ace said.

"Maybe I could come with you two sometimes on some of your adventures. We made a pretty good team together up against WOTAN," Polly said wistfully.

"Of course you could travel with me. I'd be glad to have you with me because I know that you're pretty handy in a fight. I thought that you wanted to travel with the Doctor again though," River said.

"I'm not even sure that he wants me to travel with him yet. I haven't gotten a chance to ask him yet with all of this going on," Polly said as if she were making an excuse not to go.

"I'd be happy to have you, Polly, but I think that you really want to go with River and Ace. What's stopping you?" the Doctor asked.

"I shouldn't leave Mary and Alex," Polly said.

"It's okay. We'll have the Doctor and Rose with us. They'll look after us. I know that you like River and Ace, and the three of you did get along well together and made a good team." Mary said encouragingly.

"Go on, Grandma. This is your second chance to travel again. It won't be the same if you're going around the universe with us, will it?" Alex said.

"I'll take care of them if that's what you want. I promise," the Doctor said.

"Alright, I guess I'll go traveling with you then," Polly said happily.

"Well, if we're going to go traveling together then I should have you meet Donald. Both of you won't have any trouble adjusting to him because he's the Doctor too," River said.

"What?" Polly asked in confusion.

"I'll explain it when we get there. Let's go then, you two," River said as they each grabbed one of her arms, and she punched some coordinates into her Vortex Manipulator.

After the three of them left, Oswin and her Daleks went home next using Oswin's temporal shift ability. Ian and Barbara had decided to travel with the Doctor a while longer; and they, Mary, and Alex had gone off to find some rooms to make their own during their stay there. The Doctor and Rose meanwhile went to their own room in order to have a private conversation.

Once they were alone together, the Doctor asked Rose, "What was that about? You never discussed Ace's leaving with me. I trust River, but I'm not sure that putting Ace with her was such a good idea. They're not exactly the poster children for stability. Both of them together could be a deadly combination. I'm actually glad that Polly went with them. Maybe she'll keep them from going too far. Polly was always sensible."

"Ace needs to be with River right now. They're both going to need each other's help," Rose said cryptically.

"There's something that you're not telling me, isn't there?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, but I can't tell you here. I'll tell you later when I know that no one can hear us," Rose said.

"We're on the TARDIS. No one can hear us here," the Doctor said.

"I have to be sure of that first," Rose said.

"There's something else that I don't understand while we're talking. What happened to those new powers of yours? Those wouldn't have been affected by having the Vortex connection severed from you. Why didn't you use any of those to save yourself from the Emperor? What's going on here, Rose?" the Doctor asked.

"I'll tell you later, Doctor. I promise. You believe me, don't you?" Rose said.

"Of course I do. You know I do. I just hate being kept in the dark," the Doctor said.

"You won't be for much longer. I just don't want certain people to know that I'm onto them," Rose whispered into his ear.

The Doctor nodded. He trusted Rose completely so he would just have to wait until she was ready to tell him what was going on. He was starting to have an ominous feeling about this whole thing though. He just kept wondering what Rose could be trying to protect them all from. He had a feeling that he knew, and if what he suspected was true then he was almost glad that Ace was with River after all. Being with her right now was probably the safest place to be in the whole universe at the moment.

**Next: Emmy, Elizabeth, and Lilith return just in time to help the others fight against yet another old enemy from the Doctor's past. **


	6. Portal to the Past Part 1

CHAPTER 6

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Portal to the Past Part 1

"Why is Rose just staring at that shop window mannequin for? She's been standing there for at least thirty minutes," Alex Wilkes asked his sister, Mary.

"Maybe she likes the outfit it's wearing? How should I know?" Mary said in irritation.

"No, it's more than that. She's acting really strange. I swear I saw her talking to it once," Alex said.

"Maybe she was commenting to herself on how much she liked it. I know you hate shopping, Alex, but you don't have to complain so much," Mary said.

They had come to Henrik's to look for a new wardrobe for Rose. The Doctor had looked terrified about the prospect of going at first until Rose had told him that she didn't expect him to go. He began to laugh then and started to give Mary and Alex a huge grin as if he were saying to them, 'Better you than me!'

Alex had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach from that point on. He had to admit that the day hadn't seemed so bad at first. Rose had looked at a lot of clothes and even had a friendly chat with some of the employees there who she seemed to know personally. They had been under the impression that she was dead for some reason which he thought was very strange, and Rose didn't bother to elaborate on it.

Alex and Mary were only just beginning to realize just how strange Rose Tyler's life really was. They had no idea that what they were seeing now was just the tip of the iceberg.

The day took a very weird turn though when Rose stopped to stare at this mannequin and just kept standing there for what seemed like an eternity to Alex. Mary occupied the time by looking at some dresses nearby, but Alex had nothing to occupy his mind since he had absolutely no interest in clothes at all. All that he could focus on was his need to know just what Rose was up to. It was starting to drive him mad.

Rose turned to look back at him to see him staring at her with a completely puzzled look on his face. Her entire face broke out into a wide mischievous grin. For the first time, Alex began to wonder if Rose just might be a little mental.

_No more mental than I usually am._ A voice said in Alex's mind.

Alex started to scream in surprise, but suddenly Rose was standing next to him in the blink of an eye with her hand clamped over his mouth. He had never even seen her move!

_That was just me, Alex. There's no need to cause a scene. _The same voice said in Alex's mind yet again. He now recognized it as Rose's voice.

She removed her hand, and he looked at her in a mixture of wonder and fear. She could read his thoughts! He did not like that idea at all. He began to wonder why if she had been reading his thoughts all of this time that he hadn't gotten a slap in the face for what he had found himself thinking from time to time as he had been watching her.

_Believe me I was tempted to give you the patented Tyler slap! I gave you a pass though because you're a teenage boy, and I could feel that you felt guilty about it. If I catch you doing it again though, then I'm going to slap you so hard that your grandchildren are going to feel it. Do you understand me? _Rose asked him.

_Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry. I won't do it again. You're married, and you're a lot older than I am after all. _Alex said in his mind.

_'__Ma'am!' 'A lot older!' Do you want me to give you a slap?! I'll have you know that I'm only 230 years old. Don't ever call me old again, and don't call me ma'am! My name is Rose. _Rose said indignantly in his mind.

_I'm so sorry. _Alex thought back to her.

_I know. Don't worry about it._ Rose replied with a warm smile on her face and a gentle pat on his shoulder as she let him know that she was just winding him up.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as Rose turned her attention back to the mannequin again and away from him. He was glad to let her continue to stare at the mannequin now. He would do almost anything to keep from going through that again.

"She really let you have it, didn't she? She ought to if you were thinking that way about her!" Mary said out loud but in a low voice.

"I said I was sorry! How do you know what we were saying to each other anyway?" Alex asked.

"She let me hear it I assume. I could hear that entire conversation that the two of you just had," Mary said.

"Oh, great! Now my sister is hearing my thoughts too," Alex said with a groan.

_That's only because I allowed her to, Alex. I don't believe in keeping secrets usually. I also don't usually read peoples' thoughts. Sometimes they're so loud though that I can't help but hear them. Yours were just constant and irritating. You really hate shopping, don't you? _Rose said in both of their minds without even turning around to look at them.

She gestured to them to come over to where she was, and they both stood beside her. She smiled at both of them as she said, "I'm sorry for teasing you, Alex. I couldn't help it. You really got on my nerves with your constant mental whining about my conversation with the mannequin here."

"I told you she was talking to it," Alex whispered to Mary triumphantly.

"Are you sure that it's wise that they know of my existence here? Can they be trusted?" a low voice said. Mary and Alex both realized with horror that it was coming from the mannequin!

"Of course they can! They're my new companions. If you can't trust your companions, who can you trust?" Rose whispered.

"Very well, Lady Arkytior. I trust in your judgment. I hope that the information that I have provided to you has been helpful. From what the others have been able to observe, the enemy are all over this planet. Luckily for you, their power does not seem to affect us as it does other species," the mannequin said.

"How?" Mary asked in fear as she stared at the mannequin in amazement.

Rose smiled at her and put her arm around her in comfort. Rose, of all people, knew just how intimidating all of this could be for a person when it was their first time being immersed in a much larger world. She had only known Mary and Alex a short time, but she was already finding herself becoming very attached them to both. She wanted to help them through this transitional phase as much as she could.

"This is an Auton, Mary. It's a being from another world that's made of living plastic. Don't worry. It won't hurt anyone. They don't do that anymore. I've been talking to this one for the past half hour. He's just full of interesting information, aren't you?" Rose said to the Auton with a grin.

"Information about what?" Mary asked.

"It's about nothing that you need to know about at the moment. I know I said that I don't believe in secrets, but the less you know about this particular subject the better for now," Rose said.

"Okay. I'll just have to trust in your judgment. You've been at this a lot longer than I have," Mary said.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you calling me old too now?" Rose asked with a frown which quickly turned into a huge grin as she let her know that she was just playing around with her just as she had with her brother.

Mary and Alex looked at each other with a frown as both of them moaned. Rose just laughed. She was having a lot of fun teasing the new companions. Now she realized why the Doctor used to do it with Mickey even though she still thought that it was far too excessive sometimes.

"I'm sorry, kids. I won't do it again I promise," Rose said as she gave them both a short affectionate hug.

Mary smiled at her. She was beginning to think of Rose as a wacky but good natured older sister. She really liked her which was good if it turned out that she actually was going to be her mother in law someday.

"Is that all, Lady Arkytior? I have other duties to perform today as well for the Consciousness," the Auton said.

"Nothing negative I hope," Rose said with a slight edge to her voice.

"We are fully aware that this planet is under the protection of the Doctor and yourself, my lady. We would not dare to do such a thing," the Auton replied.

"Just checking. I'll see you later then. Have fun posing for the customers," Rose said as she waved good bye to the Auton.

After the three of them left the store, one of the employees said to another one, "She's really gone off her rocker since she worked here, hasn't she?"

"If you ask me, she was always a little out there. She used to just stare up at the stars with a weird expression on her face after we would close up for the night sometimes. It was almost as if she were trying really hard to remember something. Sometimes I actually heard her saying what sounded like a man's name," the other employee answered.

"She's a strange one for sure, but I always liked her," the first employee said.

"Oh, yes. I always felt safe when I used to work alone with her late at night. She may be a little mental, but she's the nicest girl you'll ever meet," the second employee responded with a fond smile.

Rose chuckled to herself as she listened in on this conversation from several feet away. She was glad that her old co-workers still liked her at least even if they did think that she had gone around the bend.

"Are we through with spying on the employees of the store?" Alex asked impatiently.

"Yes, Grumpy. I just wanted to make sure that they weren't getting suspicious of me and the Auton. The less people know about the constant fighting going on around them the better. Great! I sound more and more like the Doctor every day. It's getting very scary," Rose said with a shudder.

Mary laughed at the face that she made while Alex just rolled his eyes. Being with Rose was certainly a unique experience for both of them. They had never met anyone quite like her.

"Are we through shopping then?" Mary asked in disappointment.

"I'm afraid so. The information that the Auton just gave me mentioned that several of the other Autons have noticed that many people have suddenly started vanishing into thin air lately in this area. They have also been detecting numerous fluctuations in the fabric of space and time in the vicinity of these disappearances as well. Much too many of them to be normal it sounds like to me. God, I really do sound like him now!" Rose said with a moan.

"So where are we going exactly?" Mary asked.

"Well, first we're getting into the TARDIS. She's coming for us right now," Rose said.

"What? I don't hear it," Mary said.

Then she looked at Rose in amazement as she began to hear the wheezing, groaning materialization noise of the TARDIS all around her. Rose just grinned back at her without comment. Mary realized that Rose could actually feel the TARDIS arriving even before it got there.

"You love freaking us out, don't you?" Alex asked Rose.

"Yep!" Rose said with a huge smile on her face.

Alex shook his head at her as the TARDIS finished materializing in front of them. The Doctor immediately stepped out and asked, "What's wrong with sounding like me?" Apparently he had been listening to what Rose had been saying through their link together.

"Why nothing at all whatsoever, Doctor. You're brilliant, fantastic, and an all-around cool guy," Rose said with a giggle as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"I know. I always love to hear you say it though. We don't say fantastic anymore by the way. Donald and I agreed that that word belongs to Shouty from now on. The poor man should have something. He didn't have anything else going for him after all," the Doctor said with an evil grin on his face.

"I don't know about that. I always thought that he was pretty amazing myself," Rose said.

"I still don't get what you saw in him. I'm so much cooler than he was and Pretty Boy too for that matter," the Doctor said with a pout.

"All of you have been cool to me, Doctor. I love you all equally," Rose said.

"You love me the best though, right?" the Doctor asked eagerly.

Rose just shook her head at him and kissed him again as her only response. She didn't say what he wanted to hear, but a kiss from Rose was more than a good enough answer for him anytime to any question so he wasn't disappointed.

The three of them then followed the Doctor into the TARDIS. Mary and Alex now saw three women standing before them in the console room that they had never seen before. Ian and Barbara were sitting off to the side talking to the first woman on their left. They seemed to be exchanging some very exciting tales about the Doctor with her from the sound of their conversations.

"This is my mother. She likes to call herself Elizabeth even though that's not really her name," the Doctor said about the first woman who looked only about twenty-five years old. She looked more like the Doctor's sister than his mother to Mary and Alex.

When Mary said this to Elizabeth, she smiled at her and said, "Oh, thank you. I can see that I'm going to like you. This is the Doctor's sister though not me."

Elizabeth pointed to her daughter Emmy who waved at the two Wilkes siblings. Emmy smiled at them as she said, "I am his sister unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" the Doctor asked with a wince.

"Yes, unfortunately! How would you like to have you as an older brother?" Emmy asked him with an evil smile.

"I'll have you know that you got lucky. I had to grow up with Braxiatel as an older brother. He was cold, calculating, and manipulative. He was always playing mind games with everyone around him. You're lucky that he had left to go establish his precious little art collection far away from Gallifrey by the time that you were born, and you wound up with me instead. I was so much better as an older brother than he would have been, believe me," the Doctor said.

"I never saw much difference between him and you to be honest," Emmy said with a smirk.

The Doctor shot her a dirty look and started to say something when Elizabeth shot them both a look of her own that made him think twice about opening his mouth.

"This is my best friend, Lilith. She doesn't say much at first, but she's really a great person once you get to know her," Emmy said as she introduced Lilith to them.

"I'm not really a person at all, Emmy. I'm a Carrionite. This isn't even my true form. I just wear it to avoid any uncomfortable situations with others," Lilith admitted.

"I think that you should keep that form. I like it. It works for you," Alex said as he smiled at her with a big goofy grin on his face.

Lilith looked at him with distaste on her face as Rose began to laugh.

"Oh, Alex, I'm wounded. You've dumped me already for another woman," Rose joked.

The Doctor looked suddenly angry at this comment as he asked, "What? Was he hitting on you?"

"No. It's nothing, Doctor. I'll tell you about it later," Rose reassured him.

The Doctor turned his attention to the console then as he set in coordinates and dematerialized the TARDIS. He still kept stealing angry glances at Alex from time to time though.

Alex looked worried as he began to wonder if he was about to find himself floating around somewhere in space soon. Emmy laughed at the look on his face as she whispered, "Don't worry about it. He'd never do anything to you. She wouldn't let him."

"Thanks," Alex whispered back to her.

"No problem," Emmy said.

Lilith began to glare at Alex as she became jealous of him. She was Emmy's friend not him.

_Cool it, Lilith. I can have more than one friend you know. You'll always be my best friend though I promise,_ Emmy said to Lilith in her mind.

Lilith smiled at that and calmed down. Emmy just shook her head and silently chuckled as she wrapped her arm around her. Lilith was constantly worried about losing her as a friend even though she would always reassure here that that would never happen. She knew that she meant a lot to Lilith because she was the only friend that she had.

"What are Carrionites anyway?" Alex asked Lilith.

"The closest equivalent to us in your language would be what I believe humans call witches. That's really too simple an explanation for what we can do with the power of words though," Lilith said. 

"Are you a good witch?" Alex asked fearfully.

Lilith looked at him with a malevolent smile as she said, "I can be. It helps when people who are way too young for me stop hitting on me."

Alex backed away nervously as Mary laughed at him. She was really enjoying seeing her brother get himself into one big mess after another.

"So the Autons have seen them all around everywhere too?" the Doctor asked Rose in the hallway just outside of the Console Room.

"Yes. They're everywhere on the planet just like you said that they were before. Your plan to get rid of them seems to not be working anymore for some reason," Rose said.

"They're very brilliant. I'll give them that. They've found some way around what I did to drive them away before. We're going to have to be very clever if we're going to finally stop them this time," the Doctor said.

"What about these people disappearing and the weird readings in time and space around this area? Do you think that they could be behind that?" Rose asked.

"I don't know. It doesn't really seem to be their style though. I had the TARDIS tracking all the disturbances in the area while you were away. They all seem to be centering around one place in particular. From what I can see, someone's opened up a portal to another time there; and that's what keeps sucking everyone into it," the Doctor said.

"Where is this portal, and who's behind it?" Rose asked.

"I can answer where but not who just yet or why. We're heading straight to where the TARDIS says that the portal must be right now," the Doctor said.

"Which is?" Rose asked impatiently.

"See for yourself," the Doctor said as the TARDIS finally materialized.

Rose and the others went outside to see that they had emerged at Big Ben. Rose turned to look at the Doctor in disbelief.

"The portal is inside of Big Ben? This reminds me a little too much of when you first met me as Rose. We just keep finding weird things around and inside of famous landmarks, don't we?" Rose said in disbelief.

"What can I say? Sometimes people out to take over the world and/or universe like to go sightseeing as much as everyone else does. Of course they're going to pick a famous landmark or two to start their plans off from. It's one of the perks of coming to Earth after all. Wouldn't you like to use something cool as your home base if you were an evil alien overlord out to take over the Earth?" the Doctor asked.

"You know I really love how your mind thinks sometimes, Doctor. I don't even pretend to understand it, but I love it," Rose said with a giggle.

Everyone piled into Big Ben then and pretended to be on one of the tours of the giant clock. The Doctor kept using his sonic screwdriver to try to pick up readings on the portal that the TARDIS said was nearby as the tourist group that they had joined slowly walked through the massive structure.

"Aha!" the Doctor shouted as the sonic found the portal at last. Everyone in the tour group stared at him in annoyance as he said, "Sorry. I'm just very excited that I'm here. Oh! It's Big Ben! This is just so cool to be here! I just cannot contain my excitement!"

"Don't strain yourself, Doctor. You'll bust something. Pay no attention to him. He's a child trapped in a man's body," Rose said with a huge grin on her face.

"Am not," the Doctor pouted.

"See what I mean?" Rose said as she continued to grin.

Everyone turned away from the Doctor then and stopped paying any attention to him. Some of the people were muttering words like 'nutter' and 'mental' under their breath though.

As everyone stopped watching them, the Doctor, Rose, and the others quietly snuck away from the rest of the tour group as they followed his sonic to the location of the portal. As they came to the portal, they could see it quite clearly now.

It was in a hidden alcove of the clock that was well off of the beaten path, and that was probably why no one had seen it. That and whoever did spot it apparently disappeared into it. There had been numerous reports of people getting lost in the clock lately as well as in the surrounding area.

The Doctor had theorized that the portal must be here sometimes and in other areas around the clock at others. Someone was trying to cast the widest possible net in order to catch people inside of it. The question still remained though: who and why?

"What are we going to do now? Are we going to take the TARDIS inside of the portal?" Ian asked.

"No. The TARDIS would probably be too much for it and make it collapse. Then we'd never know where it led to or who was behind it all. We'll have to go in there by ourselves. At least some of us will while the others stay outside and wait to take the TARDIS to wherever the other end of this portal opens up to," the Doctor explained.

"How will they know where to take it to?" Barbara asked.

"They'll follow the signal of my sonic screwdriver of course. I'm going in first," the Doctor said with a grin.

"I suppose that you expect me to bring the TARDIS in after you so that I get to miss out on all of the fun of discovering who's behind all of this first then?" Rose asked with a frown.

"No, of course not, Rose. I'd never do that to you. I know you too well, and I know that you'd hurt me if I ever tried something like that. No, there are other Time Lords here after all. I nominate Emmy to bring the TARDIS to us," the Doctor said.

"Me? Why me? I want to go see what's going on too?" Emmy pouted.

"You're the little sister. That's what you're here for. You get to do all of the dirty work," the Doctor said with a smirk.

"Where's Braxiatel when you need him?" Emmy said with a sigh.

"He wouldn't take over the job for you if that's what you're thinking," the Doctor said.

"No, but he'd make your life miserable if he were here. Then I'd at least have something to laugh at besides that big chin of yours," Emmy said.

"Ha Ha! Well, who wants to go with me in the cool group, and who wants to stay here with Emmy in the so very uncool group?" the Doctor asked.

"I'll stay with you, Emmy. You need to have someone to back you up in case something goes wrong," Elizabeth said.

"I'll stay too," Lilith said.

"Maybe you should go with him in case he needs help. You know how he needs someone to look after him," Emmy said.

"I do not. Besides I've got Rose for that," the Doctor pouted.

"Yeah and she doesn't have any powers anymore. You need Lilith. Go on and take her with you. I want her there to help protect you. You'll keep him safe for me, Lilith, won't you?" Emmy asked.

"I will for you. Not because I care anything about him," Lilith said.

"It's nice to know where I stand with you," the Doctor said to Lilith

"Well, I'm going to go too if she's going," Alex said as he smiled and winked at Lilith.

Lilith groaned and began to wonder if Emmy would mind if she chucked Alex off of a cliff somewhere. She couldn't be that attached to him, could she? She'd just met him after all.

"I guess I'll have to go if he's going then. If only to keep Lilith from knocking him out," Mary said with a laugh.

Lilith gave her an appreciative smile at that comment as she could see that Mary realized just how much Alex was bothering her. She was beginning to like Mary. Too bad Alex wasn't more like his sister.

"I guess Ian and I will just stay here with Emmy and Elizabeth then. I'd like to hear more about your childhood anyway. Particularly that story about the day you first met Rose," Barbara said.

"No, you don't want to hear that," the Doctor said suddenly terrified.

"What's the matter? You don't want them to find out about how I beat you up the first time that we met," Rose said with a huge smile.

"What?!" Barbara said in amazement.

"He was trying to take my spot on the playground. I was very territorial back then," Rose explained.

"I was not. I was just trying to talk to you because I liked you," the Doctor admitted.

"I know. I liked you too that's why I beat you up," Rose said.

"That doesn't make sense," the Doctor said.

"I had to show my affection somehow plus I had to establish early on just who would be the boss in our relationship," Rose said.

"It's been that way ever since too," Elizabeth joked.

The Doctor's face turned red as he quickly ran into the portal with Rose, Lilith, Mary, and Alex right behind him. The others started back toward the TARDIS so that they would be ready to go rescue the others when the time came.

As the Doctor and the others emerged on the other side of the portal, they could see that it led to a large spaceship that was filled with humans who were in chains. Someone had been capturing everyone that was unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped here. It seemed that no one had escaped.

Alex tried to go back through the portal but found that it only worked one way. It wouldn't let him go back through it.

"It doesn't work that way. This time corridor only works to bring people from the future to the past," the Doctor explained.

"Why though? Why capture all of these people?" Rose asked.

"Whoever it was didn't want them. Not really. They're like a fisherman who's trying to catch a specific kind of fish, and they just keep casting their net until they get it. Only this fisherman doesn't throw the little ones back. They want to capture someone specific, and I think that I know who," the Doctor said ominously.

"Whoever it is wanted you, didn't they? You knew that; and yet you still walked right into their trap anyway, didn't you?" Rose accused him.

"Yep. I had to put a stop to all of these kidnappings somehow, didn't I? This was the only way that I knew how. I had to let them get me or at least let them believe that they had anyway," the Doctor admitted.

"You're almost right, Doctor. I did want to capture a Time Lord or another type of time traveler, but it wasn't necessarily you. I just needed to find someone who possessed the necessary knowledge to be able to help me repair my ship and get me out of this horrible place. I just wish that I could have been able to use my time corridor forwards so that it could have gotten me out of here. Unfortunately, my equipment only worked well enough to make it work backwards instead. It's taken me so long to get you here. I've captured so many useless humans in the process, but I've finally gotten someone to help me. That it turned out to be you was just icing on the cake," a figure that the Doctor recognized right away as a regenerated Morbius said.

Morbius was the renegade Time Lord who had led a coalition of many different types of aliens long ago in an attempt to take over the universe. The Time Lords defeated his forces and executed him for his crimes. The execution didn't take though because his brain had been saved by one of his cronies, and he eventually was able to gain a new body once again thanks to Rose's alternate universe self, the Ouroboros. Morbius had eventually been captured in the Land of Fiction and taken back to Gallifrey to wait on another trial.

Now it seemed that he had escaped and had found himself somehow trapped here in the past. Now that the Doctor looked around him he could see that the ship was heavily damaged and looked like it would need plenty of repairs and scientific knowledge to be able to fix it.

"We need to get out of here quickly, Doctor. We don't have much time left. I've already lost so much of it already. You must help me to quickly make enough repairs to get my ship out of here before we're all destroyed," Morbius said in a panic.

"What are you talking about? Why are you in such a hurry to leave?" the Doctor asked.

"You still don't know where we are, do you? My ship crash landed on the Earth of sixty five million years ago, Doctor," Morbius said.

The Doctor's eyes widened with horror now as he realized just what Morbius was getting at.

"That's right, Doctor. We're only one day away from the cataclysmic event that destroyed the dinosaurs and wiped out most of the life on this planet. We have to find a way to get out of here before then, or we'll all be destroyed along with them!" Morbius said.

**Next: Will Emmy be able to find the Doctor and the others in time, or can the Doctor possibly find a way out of this horrible situation himself? Does anyone remember what it was that destroyed the dinosaurs from the Classic Doctor Who episode, Earthshock? If you don't know, you'll find out next time. Let's just hope that the Doctor and company are long gone by the time that it arrives.**


	7. Portal to the Past Part 2

CHAPTER 7

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Portal to the Past Part 2

The Doctor was still cursing himself hours later as he struggled to repair Morbius' ship. He should have had a better plan. He shouldn't have just charged on in where angels feared to tread. It was in his nature to do so, but he still should have resisted it. Now it wasn't just him that was in danger. It was also Rose, Mary, Alex, and Lilith. It was funny to him that he was even adding Lilith's name in with that of the others, but she meant something to his sister so she did to him as well if only for that reason.

He should have come there alone. He had been saying that to himself over and over again for the past few hours as he desperately struggled to repair one part or system after another so that they could get out of there alive. He knew that it was probably impossible to repair the ship in time, but he couldn't stop trying.

He had to hope that he could do it or that Emmy would get there in the TARDIS before time ran out. There was one other hope actually, but that would mean crossing his own timestream in a very big way. He didn't want to do it, but if push came to shove then he would. He was not going to let the people that he cared about, not to mention Lilith and Morbius, die if he could help it.

_There is something else that could save us as well, and it wouldn't risk creating a paradox or break the Laws of Time._ Rose said in his mind.

_No. They might sense that even this far back. We can't risk it. _The Doctor replied.

"We've got to do something, Doctor," Rose said out loud.

"I'll come up with something, Rose. Trust me," the Doctor said with a smile.

"I always have, and I always will," Rose said as she smiled back at him and kissed his cheek.

"Does he have a plan?" Mary asked Rose once the Doctor moved out of earshot.

"No, of course not. He always makes things up as he goes along," Rose admitted.

"You just said that you trusted him!" Alex protested.

"I do. It doesn't mean that I'm blind though. There's one thing that you have to learn about traveling with the Doctor, Alex. It's just as well that you learn it now rather than later. He never has a plan, but he comes through in the end anyway. Do you want to know why?" Rose asked.

Both Mary and Alex nodded and Lilith leaned in to listen to her in curiosity as she prepared to answer them.

"It's because he's clever. He's the cleverest person in the universe that's why. He's smarter than anyone else that I've ever met, and believe me I've met a lot of people. He's so smart that he can figure his way out of any situation no matter what it is even without a plan. He doesn't need one because he's so clever that nothing and no one can get the best of him ever! He's the Doctor, and he always wins. He always saves the day in the end," Rose said with absolute, unwavering faith in her husband.

Lilith was in awe at this level of devotion. She had never believed in anyone or anything as much as Rose Tyler believed in the Doctor. She was suddenly seeing a new side of both of them here today.

"No one's perfect though. Even the Doctor must occasionally fail. What happens then?" Alex asked.

Rose grinned from ear to ear then as she turned toward Alex and said, "That's what I'm here for."

Both Mary and Alex began to feel better at that, which was what Rose had been hoping for. Lilith looked at Rose with a new level of respect now, and she realized now just how much that Rose honestly cared about the two of them.

_And you as well, even if we aren't exactly friends._ Rose said inside of Lilith's mind.

Why? Why would you care anything about me? Lilith responded back to her in puzzlement.

_All life is of value to me. I believe that everyone is special and important in some way. I also believe that just because we started out as enemies that doesn't necessarily mean that we have to stay that way._ Rose answered.

Lilith nodded without answering her back. She would think that those words coming from anyone else were a lie, but she believed them coming from Rose. She was coming to believe that this woman never lied about anything if she could possibly help it. It seemed to be ingrained in her genes.

The Doctor watched Rose handling the others with a smile. They all believed in her now when she said that they were going to make it. He was starting to believe it himself the longer that she said it. It was what Rose did better than anyone else that he had ever met. She gave people hope and made them believe in themselves no matter how far down life had pushed them. She could always bring them back and make them believe in themselves again. That was her special gift.

Morbius had been staring at Rose the entire time since they had arrived there. He knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place her. Then his eyes went wide as he suddenly remembered who she was.

"Arkytior! You are Arkytior," Morbius said.

"I would have thought that you would have already known that since you once worked for the me of another reality," Rose said.

"I didn't realize that you and she were the same person more or less though. Interesting! You were thought dead centuries ago," Morbius said with curiosity.

"The reports of my death were greatly exaggerated," Rose said with a grin.

"Arkytior. What does that mean? The Auton called you that too," Mary asked.

"That was my name. It's who I was long ago. Now I'm Rose," Rose said.

Morbius began to laugh as he understood now. "You see yourself as one of them. You even call yourself by one of their names. This is priceless! The Time Lady who would be human! You can never be one of them. You are a god among insects," Morbius said.

"Shut up! Humans are much better than we ever were or ever could be. They're the greatest species in the universe as far as I'm concerned. They'll be around long after all of us have become forgotten," Rose said.

"Now you sound like the Doctor. You are as great a fool as he is if you actually believe that. We should rule over all of the lesser species. You are friends to this vermin when she should be groveling at your feet and begging for your mercy. You squander our greatness and our potential when you could use it to raise yourself up above everyone else in the universe and receive their veneration. Ultimate power could be yours. Join me, and you shall have it," Morbius said.

Rose was already disgusted by this man and seeing the look that he had just put on Mary's face made her despise him even more. He had made her friend feel like she was nothing. She felt that it was only fair to return the favor to him.

Rose began to laugh at him as she said, "I would never join you. I have too much respect for myself. I'd sooner work with the Daleks than ever consider working with you to do anything."

Mary began to smile again as Rose made Morbius feel worthless now. Rose put her arm around her as she let her know that she didn't feel that way about her at all.

"How dare you?! You are not fit to clean my boots!" Morbius said in retaliation as he tried to hurt Rose back.

"Excuse me, but have you been hitting on my wife?" the Doctor asked angrily.

"I merely took pity on her and offered to let her join me in my future empire. She seems to have a high opinion of herself though. Too high," Morbius said.

"She's worth a billion of you," the Doctor said.

"This is getting us nowhere. We are all going to die unless one of you thinks of a plan to get us out of here. Then all of your talk about empires and who is superior to who will be worthless!" Lilith shouted.

"Carrionite scum! I will sweep all people like you and that worthless human girl aside once I take control of this universe," Morbius said.

Lilith ripped a piece of Morbius' hair out by the roots and quickly tied it to a small doll that she took from her pocket. Then she pulled out a knife and stabbed the doll in the heart with it. Morbius screamed as one of his hearts was suddenly filled with pain.

"Apologize to her!" Lilith demanded.

"What?" Morbius asked as he gritted his teeth through the intense pain that he was feeling.

"Tell Mary that you're sorry for what you said. Do it. Now!" Lilith commanded him.

The Doctor looked at Lilith in shock while Mary looked at her in surprise. Rose just smiled. She knew that Lilith had it in her. She hadn't believed in her either at first, but then she had noticed as Lilith began to change and grow as a person. She now saw that Lilith could be an incredible force for good if she wanted to be.

"Never!" Morbius shouted.

"Better yet get down on your knees before her and ask for her forgiveness," Lilith commanded.

"No!" Morbius screamed.

Lilith stabbed the doll again and again until Morbius did as she asked. He got on his knees before Mary and said, "I'm sorry. Please forgive me."

Mary looked at Lilith more upset than happy as she said, "I appreciate what you're doing for me, but I don't want this. This is wrong."

Lilith seemed to be confused for a minute, and then it was as if it had suddenly dawned on her that Mary was right as she said, "I'm sorry. I just didn't like the way that he talked to you. You didn't deserve that."

The Doctor smiled at Lilith as he said, "I approve of your trying to defend Mary if not the way that you went about doing it."

Lilith looked dejected as she put the doll and the knife away. She was trying to be better, but she still didn't know just exactly what that meant yet.

"Don't worry. You're getting there, Lilith. You'll get it right someday," Rose said as she put her hand on the Carrionite's shoulder.

Lilith smiled at Rose and nodded. She was beginning to like her. She could now see what Emmy saw in her too.

The Doctor went back to trying to fix the ship as he continued to use his sonic screwdriver to give Emmy a signal to lead her there. He had long ago lost faith that Emmy would find them though. He knew why that probably was too. It was because the TARDIS refused to cross back over his own timestream.

He had already been here once already to this time period after all. It was back in his fifth incarnation when he had fought the Cybermen who were trying to crash a freighter into the Earth of the future. They would have succeeded if not for his companion Adric.

Adric had tried to use his advanced mathematical knowledge to decode an encryption that the Cybermen had locked the controls with as he attempted to stop it from crashing into the planet. His attempt to deactivate the lock on the controls caused the ship to jump through time to 65 million years before. The ship had still crashed into the Earth but at the time of the dinosaurs instead of in the future. Adric saved the Earth's future at the cost of his own life as he had still been on the freighter as it crashed.

Rose's words earlier had been ironic indeed spoken here because this was one of the times where the Doctor hadn't won and hadn't saved the day. He had to watch helplessly as his companion died while he could do nothing about it. He had arrived too late to save him. It still haunted him to this day.

That was the way out of here that the Doctor could still use. He could signal his past self who he knew would be here soon and get him to rescue all of them. It would cross his own timestream and break the Laws of Time, but it was the only sure way that he knew to save them all since he was certain that he couldn't save them by fixing the ship.

_You never told me about that. I've heard you speak of Adric, but I never knew how he died_. Rose said telepathically as she broke into his thoughts.

He realized that she had just lived through his memories of Adric's death along with him as she looked at him with sad tear-filled eyes. He had forgotten to block them from his link with her. He hadn't wanted her to have to see that.

_I'm your wife. I'm here to share your burdens along with you and vice versa. Don't you dare even think of keeping things from me!_ Rose responded indignantly as she broke into his thoughts once more.

_You're right. I'm sorry. I'm so used to keeping my thoughts and feelings from everyone else that I do it now on reflex without even thinking about it. _The Doctor replied in her mind in an apologetic tone.

_I'm back now, and there's no need to do that anymore. Or do you want to start keeping secrets from me? I know that I didn't tell you about my powers once upon a time, and I was wrong to do that. I was hoping that with a new me would come a new relationship between us, however. I don't ever want there to be any secrets between us ever again. _Rose responded back.

The two of them embraced each other then as they both silently agreed without words or even telepathic contact that there would be no more secrets ever again. Mary, Alex, and Lilith looked at each other and shook their heads at this sudden spontaneous outbreak of emotion from the two Time Lords.

"They're talking to each other telepathically again," Mary said.

"Yeah. Annoying, isn't it?" Alex asked.

"It's their business. None of ours," Lilith said to him.

"I know but it's still annoying when you get to see the tail end of a conversation that you have no part in. It makes you burn with curiosity inside or at least it does me anyhow. By the way, Lilith, I just wanted to say thank you for standing up for Mary like that," Alex said with a warm smile.

"It's no problem," Lilith said as she gave him a very brief smile.

Alex gave her a hug then that took her by surprise and caused her to have to restrain herself from attacking him. She knew that he meant no harm after all. It was no doubt yet another attempt to hit on her. Also, she didn't want to do anything to Mary's brother and end her friendship with her before it even had a proper chance to get started.

Lilith was proven right when Alex held onto her a little too long. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she said, "I already told you that I'm not interested in you. You're way too young for me besides being the wrong species. Don't even think about doing what it seems like you're planning on doing either. No one gets a free feel from me and lives even if I like them, and I can barely tolerate you. How good do you think you'll do?"

Alex quickly let go and said with fear, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."

Mary looked at Lilith in concern only to receive a quick wink from her. She wanted her to know that she was only kidding. She was starting to become fond of Alex as well just not in the way that he would have wanted. It shocked her just how much she was changing now. She was actually starting to think of the people traveling with her as friends and liked being around them.

Alex looked troubled and Lilith despite herself smiled at him and said, "I was just kidding about killing you, Alex. Don't try anything like that again though if you don't want me to put a spell on you."

She then put her arm around him and said, "I like you but only as a friend."

"I'll take it," Alex said as he smiled at her warmly.

The Doctor watched all of this in complete shock. He couldn't believe that this was the same Lilith who had once stopped one of his hearts and caused Martha to pass out. He couldn't believe that she was changing so much. He would have thought that she was just faking it if she didn't have a constant look on her face of disbelief as if she couldn't believe what she was doing herself.

"Do I have any cause to be jealous, Doctor? You just keep staring at Lilith. Stop that before she thinks that you're flirting with her!" Rose whispered to him as he went back to fixing the ship.

"I just can't get over how different she is now. It's almost like she's a different person," the Doctor said.

"I think that she just needed to get away from the corrupting influence of the other Carrionites. She could have easily killed you and Martha after all when you first met her from what you told me but she didn't. That showed a trace of mercy in her even then," Rose said.

"I suppose so. I think maybe it might have been because she fancied me too. She came onto me you know," the Doctor bragged.

Rose's face clouded with anger for a moment, and he knew that he had said the wrong thing.

"I rejected her of course. Actually, I was thinking of you at the time," the Doctor said.

Rose smiled then as her anger and jealousy faded away. She had to stop doing that. She finally had the man after all. In fact, he had been hers all along. There was no more need for that!

"Sorry," Rose apologized as she gave him a quick peck on the lips.

"It's okay. I shouldn't have mentioned it," the Doctor said.

"Yes, you should. No more secrets remember?" Rose said as she kissed him again.

"Got it. Then I guess it's time for me to tell you that I've come up with a way of getting us out of here that doesn't involve Celery Boy," the Doctor said.

"I liked the celery. I thought it was cute, and it's not like you didn't need it. It did save your life once after all as you'll remember. Go on then. Dazzle me with just how clever you are. Tell me what you came up with," Rose said with a look of amusement on her face.

"You're taking all of the fun out of it. You're supposed to be shocked and amazed that I was able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat when we're in such a terrible hopeless situation such as this one," the Doctor pouted.

Rose mimed wiping her face clean, and then her smile was replaced by a look of shock that the Doctor would have sworn was genuine if he didn't already know otherwise.

"I can't believe it. What could you possibly have come up with to save us when all that you have is this broken down old ship to work with?" Rose asked in a tone of amazement.

"That's really good. You should be an actress," the Doctor said impressed.

"Look, you got what you wanted. Are you going to tell me what you came up with or do I have to slap it out of you?" Rose asked with an annoyed look on her face.

"Still acting?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

Rose's face turned to one of amusement again as she said, "Yeah, that was my best impression of Donna. Don't tell her I did that though."

The Doctor sighed with relief as Rose kissed him with a giggle.

"You weren't scared of little old me, were you? Don't tell me that I scare you when not even the Daleks can raise a bead of sweat on your brow," Rose said with a chuckle.

"I'm not married to the Daleks. The worst they can do to me is to kill me," the Doctor said.

"Don't you forget it either! Now, spill it, Spaceman!" Rose said as she did her Donna impression again and laughed.

"Stop that! It's getting really annoying and downright scary at the same time. Plus it's really creepy!" The Doctor said as he cringed.

Rose laughed her head off at the expression on his face as she added that to the list of things in her head to do to him when she really wanted to annoy him. It was fun to wind the Doctor up like that sometimes.

"Okay, now that you've gotten great amusement out of making me cringe, I'll tell you what I came up with," The Doctor said as he flipped a switch next to him.

The portal that had brought them all here started to receive more power now, and they could see that it seemed to be getting wider and wider the longer that they looked at it. The Doctor began to display his 'I'm so clever, aren't I?' look to them, and Rose shook her head.

"Just tell us already!" Rose shouted in exasperation.

"Fine! Spoilsport!" the Doctor said as he pouted again.

"I'm sorry for ruining the moment. Go ahead and tell us, oh wise one," Rose said.

The Doctor grinned at her as he said, "Actually, it was you who gave me the idea in the first place. I was inspired by your earlier comment to Morbius about how you'd rather work with the Daleks instead of him. I started thinking about it and thought that wasn't such a bad idea."

Rose's face turned from amusement to concern as she said, "Doctor, tell me that you didn't do what I think that you just did."

"IT IS THE DOCTOR! THE UNKNOWN TEMPORAL PORTAL HAS LED US STRAIGHT TO THE PREDATOR OF THE DALEKS!" a Dalek voice could be heard through the portal just before a small army of them emerged from inside of it. The Doctor had sent the portal to Skaro!

"The Predator of the Daleks? That's a new one," the Doctor said in surprise.

"That's what you said at the Dalek Asylum too," Rose said to herself.

"What?" the Doctor asked.

"I'll tell you later. It's one of those adventures that you never had now," Rose said.

"It sounds like one that I'm glad that I missed," the Doctor said as he shivered at the words 'Dalek Asylum'.

"YOU WILL SURRENDER TO THE DALEKS, OR YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED," the Dalek in the front threatened.

"Yes, I agree wholeheartedly. I surrender. Take me to your leader," the Doctor said as he held up his hands in surrender. Everyone else there except for the chained up humans did as well.

The Doctor turned to Rose and said, "I always love saying that."

"You just wouldn't be you if you didn't," Rose said with a grin.

"YOU WILL BE TAKEN TO SKARO ALONG WITH ALL OF YOUR COMPANIONS. THE OTHERS WILL BE PUT TO WORK AS SLAVES WHILE YOU AND THE BAD WOLF WILL BE GIVEN TO THE SILENCE," one of the Daleks said.

"So you lot are from Davros' group then? Just our luck," the Doctor said while still smiling.

The Daleks had no idea that they were really doing exactly what the Doctor wanted as they took him and everyone else on Morbius' ship with them back to Skaro using their temporal shift abilities with less than an hour to spare before the freighter came crashing down to Earth and ended the reign of the dinosaurs over the planet forever. The Doctor continued to smile even as he and the others were led before Davros who had taken over half of Skaro while he fought with the other Daleks who had turned against him for the other half.

"I fail to see the reason for your amusement, Doctor. Did you really think that you could hide from us in the distant past forever? It was quite clever I must admit. This time it backfired on you though. Your ship was heavily damaged according to the reports of my Daleks. You were trying to escape from it weren't you by using that portal? Only fortune favored the Daleks and brought your portal to us instead so that we could find you at last. Even the Web of Time itself has turned against you now, Doctor! Time itself has delivered you at long last to the Daleks! Now I will send you and Rose Tyler to the Silence so that they will finally dispose of you as you deserve. You will die at the hands of the Silence's greatest assassin! Once you find out who that is, you will want to die. You have no idea just what the Silence have taken from you. That knowledge has been lost in the mists of time. Soon you will know though. Very soon! The irony of the identity of your killer will not be lost on you I'm sure," Davros said as he let out an evil laugh.

At that moment, the Doctor could hear a wheezing, groaning sound as the TARDIS materialized around him and everyone else from the ship. Emmy smiled in triumph as she dematerialized the TARDIS and took all of them to safety.

Davros cursed as the TARDIS left, but he couldn't be entirely unhappy. After all, he had gotten a good look at the Doctor's face before he had left, and that smile had long since left it. He had given the Doctor a reason to worry now, and well he should worry. Soon his greatest nightmares would come true as silence fell across the face of all of time and space forever!

Meanwhile back on the TARDIS, the Doctor couldn't help but wonder just what Davros had been talking about. He had a feeling that he was going to hate the answer when it did come, however. He would eventually be proven to be right.

Morbius was taken to Shada where the only thing that he would rule would be the prison chess club where he would hand a crushing defeat to the Monk. The Monk quietly cursed the Doctor as now even his title as Chess Master of Shada had been taken from him because of his interference by bringing Morbius here. The Monk added this to a long list of things that he wanted to get revenge on the Doctor for someday. I get the feeling that the Monk just doesn't like the Doctor very much, but I could be wrong though.

Back in the distant past on the freighter that the Cybermen had sabotaged to crash into the Earth, Adric closed his eyes as he prepared himself to join his brother in the afterlife. He had expected to hear one last final crash before the end.

He was taken totally by surprise therefore to hear the voice of a young woman say, "Hi, I believe you need a ride back home?"

He opened his eyes to say a young blonde woman in her early 20s looking at him with a huge smile on her face. He looked at her in shock as he said, "What are you doing here? This ship is about to crash at any moment. You should have gotten off when you had the chance. I'm sorry, but we're both going to die!"

"Are you melodramatic or what?" the young woman said as she drew closer and closer to him.

Adric then noticed for the first time that everything around him was frozen in time, and he finally realized that the only sound that he had heard lately was the sound of the woman's voice. Time was standing still all around him!

"That's right, Adric. Time is standing still. It'll stay that way until we both leave here," the woman said.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" Adric asked suspiciously.

"I'm the only way that you have out of certain death. You should be begging me to help you instead of asking me questions. What does it matter who I am as long as I'm saving your life?" the woman said with a sigh.

"You could be working for the Master for all I know. I don't want to be used against the Doctor by him again even if it means that I do have to die," Adric said.

"Oh, puh-leese! As if I would ever work with Koschei. I'm doing this for my grandparents. You know one of them. I believe that your version ran around with a stick of celery on his lapel. I never did understand that one," the woman said.

"You're the Doctor's granddaughter?" Adric asked in amazement.

"Yep, I'm one of them anyway. I'm Jessica Baker. I've heard about you all of my life. My grandfather was always going on and on about poor old Adric who he couldn't save. I've finally come here to fix that. I'm going to save you myself," Jessica said.

"Isn't that going to mess up time or something?" Adric asked.

"Naw. I know what I'm doing. Trust me! Let's take you home, Adric. I can tell my grandfather about it later once he's in a good mood. He'll give me a lecture about the Laws of Time for about an hour, and then he'll probably agree with what I did. I'll get to be his favorite for about a week or two after that," Jessica said as she gave him a huge smile.

"You're a very strange girl," Adric said as he grabbed the hand that she held out for him.

"So I've been told," Jessica said as she took Adric with her and brought him back to his people at last.

Her grandmother had remembered the look of pain on the Doctor's face all of those years ago, and it had never left her mind. She finally had decided to do something about it because after all what Tegan had said right after Adric had died had been absolutely right. The freighter had to hit the Earth, but Adric didn't have to be on it.

Rose had told Jessica to come and save him because the Doctor thought of that as one of the days that he had failed. Making sure that the Doctor never failed was what she was there for.

**Next: The Doctor and Rose drop by to visit Sarah Jane Smith and soon involve her in an exciting new adventure. It's not like Sarah didn't have enough problems of her own after all. The Doctor just had to add more. Also, Alex hits on Rani and has Clyde seeing red. You've got to love that kid unless you're Clyde that is! **


	8. The Ring of Fear

CHAPTER 8

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This story takes place before And The Story Goes On . . . Forever Chapter 1 and after the current storyline in The Further Adventures of River Song.**

The Ring of Fear

Sarah Jane Smith wasn't at all surprised to see the Doctor's TARDIS materialize out of thin air in the attic of her home. The Doctor had been there before several times after all. What did surprise her though was the young brunette woman who came out of it.

"Hello, my name's Clara. Clara Oswald. I'm traveling with the Doctor now, and I, uh, seem to have made a little bit of a mistake," Clara said with a very worried look on her face.

Sarah Jane decided that she liked this girl already, and she smiled at her as she said, "What kind of a mistake, Clara?"

"The Doctor was teaching me how to drive the TARDIS earlier today, and I thought that I had learned how to do it correctly. Apparently, I didn't though. The Doctor and Rose left me alone in the TARDIS, and I thought that I would surprise them by taking off in it by myself and then bringing it back right in front of them. I never should have touched anything. I've been stuck in the Vortex for hours, and I only just now got out of it. I hit every button that I could, and nothing worked. Finally, I wound up here after I hit a button that seemed to pop up out of nowhere marked 'Sarah Jane'. I hoped that it meant that you were a friend of the Doctor's, and your home was on his speed dial or something. I really hope that you know who the Doctor is, or I'm going to be put away for being a nutter," Clara said nervously.

"Don't worry about it, Clara. I do know him as a matter of fact. This is the first time that I've ever heard of the TARDIS having a button with my name on it on the console though. Where did you leave the Doctor and Rose at?" Sarah Jane asked.

"I don't know. It was some planet somewhere that I can't remember the name of. I wish I had just left things alone. The Old Cow did this to me on purpose I know it. She hates me you know. I firmly believe that," Clara said.

"You mean the TARDIS?" Sarah asked as she grinned at Clara's name for the ship.

"Yes. She hates me for some reason I don't know why. I think that I did do everything right, and she trapped me in the Vortex on purpose because she didn't like me trying to fly her," Clara accused.

"It could be. The TARDIS always did have a will of her own. She liked me though. I never had any problems with her," Sarah Jane said.

"Lucky you! Do you know how to send me back to them? Can you fly her?" Clara asked desperately.

"No, I'm afraid not. I do remember that the Doctor showed me something called the 'Fast Return Button' once that was supposed to take the TARDIS back to the last place that it had been. I wonder if I could find that again. Of course, everything's changed inside there since I traveled with the Doctor," Sarah Jane admitted.

"Could you try? Please? I don't want to leave them stranded, and I don't want them to be too angry at me. Maybe if I could come back to around the same time that I left they wouldn't be too mad. Also, maybe the blasted thing might actually work for you," Clara asked Sarah Jane.

"Sarah Jane, I cannot recommend this course of action. Clara is lucky that she wasn't lost in the Vortex for all eternity. If you try to use the TARDIS again, the two of you might not be so lucky the next time," Mr. Smith, Sarah Jane's living computer who lived in her attic, warned her.

"I'm aware of that, Mr. Smith. I can at least try to find the right button however. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be labeled or just suddenly appear like the button with my name on it did," Sarah Jane said.

As Sarah Jane started toward the TARDIS, Clara said, "Maybe he's right. You should just stay here. I don't want to get you lost too."

Sarah Jane looked at Clara to see a strange look on her face. It almost looked as if she was at war with herself. She guessed that Clara was feeling guilty about asking her to do this, and that part of her was fighting with the part that just wanted to get back to the Doctor and Rose.

"It's okay, Clara. I won't touch anything unless I'm sure of what it is," Sarah Jane reassured her.

"Maybe you shouldn't even go inside though. I mean the Old Cow might just take off without us even touching a thing. That sounds just like something she'd do," Clara said with a look of warning on her face.

Sarah Jane began to feel for the first time that something wasn't right here. It was almost as if Clara was trying to warn her not to get into the TARDIS without outright saying it. Then Sarah Jane noticed that Clara was holding up her hand in an exaggerated pose as if she was going out of her way to get her to notice it.

Sarah Jane looked at Clara's hand and saw a large ring on her finger. It was a very familiar looking ring to her for some reason. She couldn't quite place it at first, and then to her horror it finally hit her just where she had seen it at before.

"Eldrad," Sarah Jane almost whispered the name.

Clara's face transformed into one of hatred as she said in a different tone than the one she had been using up until that point, "Hello, Sarah Jane Smith. It's so nice to see you again. You don't look too pleased to see me though. Is that any way to greet an old friend?"

Then Clara's face transformed again as she said in her own voice, "I'm so sorry. I tried to warn you."

"It's okay, Clara. I understand how powerful that ring is. Eldrad once controlled me with it as well," Sarah Jane said in a sympathetic voice.

Eldrad was the last of a race of silicon-based beings called the Kastrians. Instead of being made out of flesh and blood, the Kastrians were made out of what had appeared to be a combination of rocks and crystals.

Kastria had once been a planet with an inhospitable environment. Eldrad had changed that by building spatial barriers to hold back the cold solar winds that had once frozen the planet.

Eldrad eventually turned on his people though when they didn't want to go to war with the rest of the universe and conquer it. He tried to replace the king and take over the planet himself. When this failed, he decided to destroy the spatial barriers killing many Kastrians as a result as the solar winds suddenly returned.

As a punishment for this, the Kastrians sentenced him to death. He was then launched off into space in a capsule and blown up.

Somehow, Eldrad's hand survived the explosion with his ring still on it. The ring contained Eldrad's DNA and memories and had several powers including the power to regenerate his body using radiation, the ability to change his form and even his gender based on the imprints of other people who touched it, mind control, hypnosis, and telepathy.

It fell to Earth in prehistoric times and was then found millions of years later in an English quarry by Sarah Jane after an explosion went off that uncovered it. The hand took over Sarah Jane's mind and made her take it to a nearby nuclear reactor where it used the radiation there to regenerate and grow itself a new female body based on Sarah's own because she had been in contact with it.

The new female Eldrad then tricked the Doctor into thinking that Eldrad was the rightful ruler of Kastria who had been deposed in an alien invasion. The Doctor took Eldrad back to Kastria where the female Eldrad was poisoned by a booby trap left long ago by the Kastrians and had to regenerate once again in an ancient regeneration chamber that turned Eldrad back into his original male self.

It was then that the Doctor and Sarah Jane had found out the truth about Eldrad as he started talking about taking over the universe. This idea was given a serious derailment, however, when Eldrad found out that all of his race had committed suicide long ago rather than take a chance on ever being ruled by him again if he should ever return. Talk about rejection!

Eldrad, being able to think quickly on his feet, decided to then steal the TARDIS and take it back to Earth to conquer humanity. The Doctor, however, stole Eldrad's ring and made the Kastrian chase him for it. The Doctor then used his fourth incarnation's long scarf for something useful for once and tripped Eldrad with it. Eldrad fell into a deep chasm, and Sarah Jane had thought that he had died there. The Doctor though didn't seem to believe even then that it would be that easy to kill him. Apparently, he had been right.

"So you finally got what you wanted, didn't you? You took over Clara here and used her to steal the TARDIS and take it back to Earth after all," Sarah Jane guessed.

"Clara was most accommodating. She came across my ring on an alien planet and bought it because it was so unusual. The Doctor didn't realize just what she had until it was far too late. I already had control of her mind by then, and I used her to pilot the TARDIS here while leaving the Doctor and his wife behind on a distant world somewhere. The part about the Doctor training her to drive this ship was true by the way, and I thank him for that. It has helped me out immensely," Eldrad said through Clara with mocking laughter.

"Let her go, Eldrad. If you want a body, you can take mine. You're already used to it after all," Sarah Jane offered.

"I'm afraid not this time, Sarah Jane. I like this girl better. She's much younger than you are now and full of energy. I have come all of this way to gain my revenge on you first before going on to conquer this world, however, so don't feel too badly," Eldrad said with an evil sneer.

"You make me feel so special, Eldrad," Sarah Jane joked.

Sarah Jane and Eldrad were interrupted then by the sudden arrival of Rani and Clyde into the attic. They had come here to visit Sarah Jane as they still sometimes did even though they had long since moved out of the area to go to Oxford University. They had picked the worst possible time to come unfortunately.

"Sarah Jane, what's going on?" Rani asked as she realized immediately that something was wrong from the tension in the room.

"Rani, Clyde, run!" Sarah Jane shouted at them in warning.

"No, I think that you should stay. I need some new servants in order to start my empire. You can help Clara here to break into the nearest reactor so that I can regenerate myself once more," Eldrad said as he used his ring to seize control of Rani and Clyde's minds.

Now in case you think I've forgotten who this story is supposed to be about, all I have to say to you is: oh, ye of little faith.

"Isn't this just like old times, Sarah Jane? You, me, and good old Eldrad; and he's even out to take over the universe again. Some things never change it seems. Hello, Eldrad. You're just as thick as ever I see," the voice of the Doctor suddenly called out to them.

Eldrad snarled in rage as he turned to see the Doctor, Rose, Alex, and Mary all standing in the corner of the attic. The Doctor had a huge grin on his face as he waved to him.

"You know it's very rude to steal someone else's body and then to use said body to steal their friend's ship. It's no wonder that the Kastrians blew you up. In some cultures in the galaxy, that level of rudeness alone would earn you an automatic death by firing squad or result in you being chucked out of an airlock into space depending on how advanced they are," the Doctor lectured.

"You have changed your form since we last met, but you still remain as arrogant as ever, Doctor," Eldrad spat out.

"Pot kettle black," the Doctor said with a huge grin.

"I have no idea how you came back to Earth without your TARDIS, but it really doesn't matter to me, Doctor. You should have stayed where you were. You would have survived longer that way. Now, you will die at the hands of your own friends. Kill him!" Eldrad shouted.

As Rani and Clyde marched towards the Doctor with murderous looks on their faces, Eldrad used his ring to take control of Mary and Alex as well. The four of them quickly surrounded the Doctor, Rose, and Sarah Jane while Eldrad stood nearby and laughed.

"I just love the fixes that you get me into, Doctor. I'm starting to have flashbacks to the Gelth in Cardiff," Rose said with a grin.

"It's your own fault, Rose. I told you to use your temporal shift to place us inside the TARDIS not in the corner of the attic," the Doctor complained.

"You try using this thing and getting it one hundred percent accurate. At least I got us to the right time and place. You probably would have landed us in the middle of the Gobi Desert somewhere back in the time of the Mongol Empire, and I would have had to talk Genghis Khan out of killing you . . . again!" Rose said with a chuckle.

"I'd love to hear that story sometime," Sarah Jane said happily, seemingly unconcerned that she might be about to be attacked at any moment.

"Sure, I'll tell you all about it. You'll love it," Rose said with a smile.

"There will be no other times for any of you. You will soon die at the hands of your own youthful companions. It seems oddly appropriate somehow. I'm sure that they've wanted to do that to you on several occasions," Eldrad said.

"Oh, someone's developed a healthy sense of humor since I've last seen them! Good for you, Eldrad. I love a villain with a good sense of humor. It's so much better than having to deal with one of those boring world beater types who always just drone on and on endlessly. I hate that. Don't you, Rose?" the Doctor said.

"I definitely hate it when people talk on and on without ever stopping or even pausing to take a breath. It does get to be pretty annoying after a while," Rose said with a pointed look at him.

"Oh, ha ha! Very funny!" the Doctor said pouting.

"Enough! Kill them all now!" Eldrad ordered in irritation.

"You haven't changed at all, Eldrad. You still have a short fuse," the Doctor commented.

As the four mind controlled companions advanced forward to attack, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and continually turned its green light off and on in a pattern in front of them as he attempted to bring them out of their hypnosis with it. The four of them began to blink, and then they shook their heads as they regained control of their minds once more.

"I haven't done that in a while. It's good to know that I've still got it," the Doctor said.

"Curse you, Doctor! It won't do you any good, however. I still have what I really want. Your ship," Eldrad said as he ran toward the still open door of the TARDIS.

Rani surprised him by reaching him first however and knocking him to the ground. Taking advantage of this sudden attack, Alex ran up and removed Eldrad's ring from Clara's finger before he even realized what was happening. Alex took the ring and quickly gave it to Rose before it could take over his mind again. Rose then used her temporal shift device to teleport it into deep space.

"Is it over then?" Clara asked.

"Yes, Clara. Eldrad's finished. This time I hope it takes," the Doctor said.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah Jane. Eldrad wanted me to lure you into the TARDIS so that he could take you back to Kastria and strand you there. He thought that would be appropriate somehow. This is hardly the way that I wanted to meet you. The Doctor's told me a lot about you after all. You're like a legend," Clara said with a huge grin.

"You're actually telling your companions about me now?" Sarah Jane asked in surprise.

"Well, I have to. You're Sarah Jane. Everyone should know about you," the Doctor said proudly.

Sarah Jane looked at Rose in surprise and saw her wink at her. She knew that Rose had done this somehow. It had always bothered her that the Doctor never talked about his past companions. She mouthed the words 'thank you' to Rose who grinned at her in response.

Alex walked over to Rani and said, "Hello! It's nice to meet you. Who are you?"

"She's a little old for you. That's who she is, mate," Clyde said in an angry voice.

"Why do you care? Is she your girlfriend or something?" Alex asked.

"No, we're just friends," Clyde said.

"Really? Why are you so mad then?" Alex challenged him.

"You just mind your own business, and leave Rani alone," Clyde said.

Neither of them noticed while they fighting over her that Rani hadn't said a word or even looked at them the entire time. She just looked off into space as if she were still in a trance.

"Rani? Are you alright?" Sarah Jane asked in concern.

"Look what you've done, Alex. You've upset her," Mary chastised him.

"No, I didn't. I didn't do anything," Alex protested.

"Rani, are you alright?" Clyde asked in concern.

Rani looked at him blankly for a moment, and then she seemed to be her old self again as she said dismissively, "I'm fine. I just felt strange there for a minute. I guess it was just an after effect of Eldrad's mind control, that's all."

"I guess. So you're okay?" Clyde asked again.

"Yes, I'm fine. Stop worrying about me," Rani said with a warm smile as she attempted to reassure Clyde.

What Clyde didn't know was that she was also trying to reassure herself. She could have sworn that she heard a voice speaking to her for a moment there. It was a voice that had kept telling her over and over again to open a fob watch.

This was weird because she didn't have a fob watch, and she never had. It must just be some kind of strange side effect left over from having been hypnotized. It just didn't make any other kind of sense. After all, what did opening a watch have to do with anything?

**Next: You didn't think it would be that easy, did you? Eldrad returns with a proper Kastrian body this time as he prepares once more for his revenge. Some people just never know when to give up! **


	9. Legend from the Past Part 1

CHAPTER 9

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This story takes place after Bad Wolves Chapter 33 and Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel Chapter 40 and continues themes from both of those stories plus it has the return of Eldrad. Our heroes are going to be very busy this time around.**

Legend from the Past Part 1

The Doctor materialized outside of Sylvia Noble's house and shuddered for a minute. He really did not want to go in there. When he last saw Sylvia, she wasn't exactly his greatest fan. Of course that was years ago. She had to have gotten over all of that by now, right?

The Doctor went to the door and knocked on it. Sylvia came to the door looking terrible. She looked very pale like she had just received a great shock. The Doctor began to wonder for the first time just how horrible the news was that Donna had called him here to tell him if it could produce such a reaction in someone as tough as Sylvia.

"Who are you?" Sylvia asked in a tense voice.

"I've changed my face since the last time that we met, Sylvia, so I can see why you don't know me. It's me, the Doctor," the Doctor said with a big grin on his face.

Sylvia looked at him with a cold, dead stare for a moment, and then she slammed the door in his face. The Doctor sighed and said, "Oh, yeah. I can feel the love here already."

The door opened again, and Donna was standing there this time. She looked at him apologetically as she said, "Sorry about that, Spaceman. She's had a really hard day. We both have actually."

As Donna invited him inside, the Doctor said, "What is this all about anyway, and what does it have to do with me?"

"Everything, Doctor. You'll see. I'll give you a word of advice. You'd better sit down before you find out what your mom has to say, or you might just fall down," Donna warned him.

"What? What's my mother doing here?" the Doctor asked in complete bewilderment.

Donna said nothing else. She just looked at him as if she pitied him for what he was about to find out, and she gave him a small hug. Donna being nice to him made him even more afraid. Now he knew something was wrong.

The Doctor found his mother, Wilf, and Sylvia sitting together in the living room. Sylvia had her back turned to both of them and wasn't speaking. Wilf kept looking at Sylvia in sadness, and his mother just looked plain miserable. What was going on here?

"Mother, what's going on?" the Doctor asked as soon as he came into the room.

"You'd better sit down," Elizabeth said.

"Why does everybody keep telling me to sit down?" the Doctor asked in frustration.

"Sit," Elizabeth ordered, and the Doctor did so without further comment. Donna smiled at that. She had only ever seen Rose get the Doctor to shut up like that before.

"Wilf and I have been living together for two months now," Elizabeth started.

"I know that already. Is that your big news?" the Doctor asked.

"Stop talking until I'm finished," Elizabeth ordered in an impatient voice.

The Doctor quickly shut up again, and Donna laughed. "You've got to teach me how to do that," Donna said, and Elizabeth smiled at her.

"What you don't know is that Wilf and I got married a week after we moved in together," Elizabeth said.

"Congratulations! Wilf is a good man," the Doctor said happily.

"Thank you, but that's not all," Elizabeth said.

"Here it comes," Donna said.

"I'm pregnant. You're going to have a new brother or sister," Elizabeth said.

The Doctor turned pale and said, "What?"

"I told you that you needed to sit down," Donna said.

"What?" the Doctor asked again.

"You're starting to sound like your previous incarnation now," Donna noted.

"What?!" the Doctor asked a third time in total disbelief.

"I thought that you'd be happy for me," Elizabeth said in a sad voice.

"I am. I really am. I just think that's it's a little late in life for you to be having another child and for me to be getting another sibling. I already have enough trouble with Emmy. This child is going to be hundreds of years younger than me. This whole situation is going to be insane," the Doctor said.

"I can't believe this. First your sister gets all upset and passes out, and now you're acting like I ruined your life just because I'm bringing another child into the universe," Elizabeth said as she began to cry.

"Emmy knew before me?" the Doctor asked annoyed.

"I'm talking about Sylvia," Elizabeth said.

"I am not his sister!" Sylvia said in anger as she spoke for the first time since the Doctor had arrived there.

"She's not my sister!" the Doctor said agreeing with her.

"You are brother and sister now whether you like it or not," Elizabeth said to both of them.

Both the Doctor and Sylvia sulked and silently shook their heads in protest. Wilf just looked at Elizabeth in despair and said nothing.

Donna had enough of their behavior and said, "Oi! Both of you need to stop acting like children. Elizabeth and Granddad were both happy until they came here. Do you really want to make what should be a happy time for them miserable instead? You should both be ashamed of yourselves!"

Both Sylvia and the Doctor did look ashamed for a minute, but they continued to say nothing. Donna sighed and threw up her hands in despair.

"I'm sorry for their behavior, Liz. I give up trying to talk some sense into them," Donna said as she left the room in disgust.

The Doctor's cell phone rang a minute later and as he looked at the name on it he sighed. "Thanks a lot, Donna," he said to himself.

He answered the phone and put it on the new holographic mode that he had designed for it. In seconds, a holographic image of Rose appeared. She was still traveling with River Song for the moment for some reason that she wouldn't explain to the Doctor.*

"Elizabeth and Wilf, I'm so happy for both of you. Unlike some people," Rose said as she glared at the Doctor.

"Thank you so much, Donna," the Doctor said again.

"Thank you, Rose. I'm glad that someone is happy for me. Lately all I've heard is how terrible it is that I've gotten a second chance at life," Elizabeth said.

"Rose?" Sylvia asked as she turned to look at the hologram of Rose with anger on her face.

"Hello, Sylvia. Do you remember me?" Rose asked with a smile.

"It's you! You're the woman who came to stay with us the day that the Daleks attacked the Earth. You're Rose? You're a Time Lord? Are you the same Time Lord who changed my Donna into a Time Lord without telling me about it?" Sylvia asked in anger.

"I wasn't a Time Lord at the time that we met, but I am now. It's a long story. Yes, I changed Donna with her permission. She's was miserable without her memories, and she wanted to be able to travel in time and space again," Rose said.

"I'm her mother. I had a right to know that you were turning my daughter into an alien," Sylvia said in anger.

"She's still Donna, Sylvia. That hasn't changed, and it never will. All I did was give her what she wanted. It's her life and her choice not yours. I did it to pay her back for the help that she gave the Doctor before and for saving the universe. She deserved better than to sit in a depression for the rest of her life. I didn't want that for her. Did you?" Rose said with heartfelt honesty.

"No. I just don't like it that no one told me. I was left out of the decision making entirely. Is Donna going to be alright? She won't have any problems from this in the future will she?" Sylvia asked in a calmer and more concerned voice.

"No, she's fine. I promise that I would never do anything that would hurt Donna," Rose said.

Sylvia studied Rose's face and could see the sincerity there. She believed her and nodded. She let the matter drop then. Unfortunately for her and the Doctor, Rose wasn't done with either of them yet however.

"Doctor, Sylvia, you need to support your parents. They've just given you some incredible news, and both of you are making them feel terrible about it. They're bringing a new life into the universe, and that's always a good thing to me. You should stop giving them grief about it and be happy for them. Tell them that you're sorry for your little tantrums, and stop this right now," Rose demanded.

The Doctor and Sylvia said nothing and remained stubbornly silent. Rose glared at the Doctor and said sternly to him, "Tell them that you're sorry."

The Doctor still said nothing as Rose's eyes burrowed into him. She continued to glare at him for several minutes as he refused to speak.

"Doctor," Rose said in a stern and demanding voice.

"I'm going to have a little kid for a brother or sister. It's going to be so weird," the Doctor finally said.

"Look at your mother's face, Doctor," Rose ordered.

The Doctor looked at his mother and could see the sadness and pain there. His hearts melted as he never wanted to cause her pain. It was just incredibly upsetting to suddenly be told that he was going to have a sibling who was so much younger than he was. Not to mention that he was going to have Sylvia as a step-sister. His resolve weakened, and he said, "I'm sorry, Mother, Wilf. I'm being selfish. I'm happy for both of you."

Sylvia finally decided to say something too now that the Doctor had. "I'm sorry too. I don't want to make you miserable, Dad. I'm happy for you," Sylvia said.

"Thank you, darling," Wilf said happily.

"Now say that both of you are sorry to each other for not wanting to be brother and sister," Rose said.

"Don't push it," both the Doctor and Sylvia said at once and surprised each other. They both began to laugh.

"Good enough," Rose said with a grin.

"Rose, there's something that I have to tell you about. Jenny found out recently who the Thorn is. She's Cassiopeia," the Doctor said.

"Who?" Rose asked.

"You don't remember her either? Neither did I until Jenny caused me to remember again. She told me to tell you and that you would remember," the Doctor said.

The Doctor sent the memories that Jenny had revived in his mind through his link with Rose, and she gasped in sorrow and surprise as her own long buried memories were now revived by his. She stared at the Doctor in shock for a moment without speaking.

"How could we ever forget her?" Rose finally asked the Doctor in a horrified voice.

"I don't know but I bet I know who's behind it. You'd better believe that I'm going to find out for sure," the Doctor said coldly.

"We both will. If Kovarian's behind this in any way, she'll pay," Rose said in anger.

"We'll both find out together, Rose, and then we'll get Cassiopeia back. I promise you that," the Doctor said firmly.

"She'd better hope that you get to Kovarian first if she's responsible for this. I'll see you later, Doctor. There's something that I need to do here, and then I promise that I'll come back and help you find out the truth," Rose said.

"Are you going to tell me just what it is that you're doing there with River?" the Doctor asked.

"Yes, when I get back," Rose said.

The Doctor nodded because he knew that Rose would keep her promise. He trusted her even if he didn't like being kept in the dark about things.

"I'll see you soon, Doctor. Good bye," Rose said as she hung up the phone and her hologram faded.

"I'm so glad that you found her again, Doctor. She's a good woman. I liked her when I met her before. She saved me and Sylvia from the Daleks once you know," Wilf said with a fond smile at the memory.

"That sounds like her. She was amazing even when she was human. She's still the same person whether she's human or a Time Lord. Nothing can diminish her spirit in any way. She still shines through regardless," the Doctor said with love in his eyes and voice.

"You never change. You were talking about her that way long before you ever married her, and you still are today. That's what I have with Wilf now too," Elizabeth said as she held Wilf's hand.

"I'm so happy for both of you. I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. Maybe Rose is right. I can act like a child sometimes in this incarnation," the Doctor admitted.

"Only in this incarnation?" Elizabeth asked with a grin.

The Doctor sighed and didn't respond while Elizabeth laughed. The two of them hugged each other tightly then, and the Doctor then hugged Wilf as he said, "Welcome to the family, Wilf. You once said that you would be proud to be my dad, and I feel the same about you. I'm proud to have you as a dad. I couldn't ask for anyone better," the Doctor said.

"Thanks, Doctor. I appreciate that. I was right you know. I am proud to be your step-dad. You're a good man, and your mother is a wonderful woman. I think I'm going to like being a part of your family," Wilf said happily.

"I hope that your mind doesn't change when you meet Emmy," the Doctor joked.

"Stop it!" Elizabeth warned.

"I couldn't resist. She's not that bad really. She's not that good either though," the Doctor said with an evil grin.

"Do you want me to call Rose again?" Donna threatened.

"I'd better leave before I get into any more trouble," the Doctor said with a wince.

He said good bye to everyone then, and he went back to his TARDIS. As he reentered the Vortex, Clara came out of her room and noticed the worried look on his face.

"Are you okay, Doctor?" Clara asked him in concern.

"I'm fine," the Doctor said with a fake smile.

"Don't pull that on me, Mister. I've been around you long enough now to know what that really means. You're not fine at all. Do you want to talk about it?" Clara asked.

The Doctor gave a smile of appreciation to her. He had become very fond of Clara now. She had become a good friend to him. He could easily see how they would have become close enough for Clara to have almost sacrificed herself to save him in the other timeline. He hoped that she would have sense enough not to try that in this timeline though. He didn't want anything to happen to her. He had no desire to have something bad happen to yet another companion.

"I recently found out that I was somehow made to forget someone very close to me. Now that same person has come back recently to hunt down members of my family thanks to the Silence," the Doctor explained.

"You mean the Thorn? The Thorn was someone close to you? You certainly couldn't tell it," Clara said.

"She's been given false memories until now. I have no idea what she'll do now that she knows the truth. I don't know whether she'll believe it or not," the Doctor said sadly.

"Who is she?" Clara asked.

"Someone very important to me," the Doctor said.

"It's none of my business. I get it," Clara said.

"No. I didn't mean to make you feel that way, Clara. I just don't like to talk about her. She died a long time ago," the Doctor said.

"What? How is she back now then?" Clara asked in surprise.

"That's what I'd like to know. That and how was I ever made to forget her in the first place. I'm going to find out too. Then I'm going to get her back. This is my second chance with her, Clara. I'm not going to lose her again," the Doctor said with tears in his eyes.

"She's your daughter, isn't she?" Clara asked as she saw the grief on his face.

"Yes," the Doctor confirmed as he continued to cry.

Clara embraced him as he broke down and comforted him. She hoped that Rose wouldn't mind. She didn't feel that way about the Doctor after all. She just wanted to comfort him as a friend.

As they broke apart, she wanted to confirm this to him as she said, "I wasn't trying anything. I just wanted to comfort you."

"I know," the Doctor said.

"I just wanted you to know that. I don't want there to be any confusion. I don't ever want Rose to be mad at me. I've seen her when she gets angry. It's not pretty," Clara said.

"Don't worry about it, Clara. We both know you well enough by now to know that you would never do something like that. Thank you for what you did. I'm sorry for getting all emotional like that. Everything just got to me for a moment," the Doctor said.

"It's okay, Doctor. We all do that sometimes. Even Time Lords from Gallifrey," Clara said with a warm smile.

The TARDIS suddenly materialized, and the Doctor grinned as he saw that he was in the city of Troy in the distant past. He hadn't been to Troy since that business with the Horse. He briefly wondered if his old companion Vicki would still be here. She had left him here to be with a Trojan prince named Troilus who she had fallen in love with and had renamed herself Cressida. This would be just a few years after that according to the date on the console. Vicki should hopefully still be alive. He had always wondered if she had a happy life.

"Where are we now, Doctor?" Mary said as she and Alex emerged from their rooms after feeling the TARDIS land.

"Ancient Troy, Mary. I haven't been here in centuries. I wonder if they've changed the place much," the Doctor speculated.

Alex turned on the monitor and said, "It looks like it's been changed a lot, Doctor."

They all looked to see that the Trojans seemed to be being led around in chains as they built massive crystalline structures that reminded the Doctor a little too much of the buildings on Kastria. He had a sinking feeling in his chest as he watched this perversion of history going on in front of his eyes.

His worst fears were confirmed when he saw Eldrad back in his original Kastrian body ordering the men who were in charge of the chained up Trojan workforce. He was telling them where to build at and how to construct things the Kastrian way.

"Keep building, my slaves. This is only the beginning of my eventual rule of this pathetic planet. Soon I will change the entire Earth into the new Kastria and rewrite its history forever. Then I will take on the entire Universe. My empire begins here," Eldrad said.

"Great. Just great! My old enemies never die. They just keep coming back over and over again. I sometimes think that it's the universe's idea of a joke only I don't think it's funny," the Doctor said with a groan.

Then he saw to his horror that it was even worse than he thought as he saw the Monk on the monitor now walking up to Eldrad. Well, that explained how Eldrad got here.

"Now I know the universe is laughing at me. Shada must have a revolving door or something. I really have to speak to the head of that place sometime about how the purpose of Shada is to make sure that no one leaves it who isn't supposed to," the Doctor said with a moan.

Ian and Barbara now came into the Console Room. They looked at the monitor, and Barbara, being a history teacher, said with excitement, "Is that Troy?"

"Yes. At least it used to be. Now it's become my old enemy Eldrad's playground," the Doctor said angrily.

"Isn't this where you said Vicki left you?" Ian asked.

"Yes. I hope that she's safe wherever she is, and not one of those people in the chains," the Doctor said worried.

A loud knocking could be heard on the TARDIS doors then, and the Doctor switched the monitor to the outside of the doors to show them all exactly who was knocking. It was Vicki. She was a few years older than when he last saw her, but it was definitely her.

The Doctor could see a look of desperation in Vicki's eyes, and he decided to take a chance that this wasn't a trick by the Monk or Eldrad and let her in. He opened the doors and quickly closed them after Vicki came running inside in terror.

"Ian? Barbara? I thought that you left. Is this before that? Do you know who I am yet?" Vicki asked.

"Yes, Vicki. This is long after we left," Barbara said.

"How? You don't look like you've aged a day since I last saw you," Vicki said confused.

"It's a long story. How did you get free?" Barbara asked her.

"I was never captured. I'm a part of the resistance against Eldrad and the Monk. I never liked that Monk. I always knew that he was trouble. I was spying on what they were up to in order to report it back to the others as usual when I saw the TARDIS. I took a chance on running up to it and hoped that I would get in without being caught. We really need the Doctor to help us. Where is he?" Vicki asked in desperation.

"You just walked right past him," Ian said smiling.

"What? Where is he?" Vicki asked as she looked around the room searching for the First Doctor, the incarnation of the Doctor who she had traveled with.

"Hello, Vicki. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said as he waved at her with a big smile.

"What? You can't be. You're way too young," Vicki said in surprise.

"It is him, Vicki. Believe me," Ian said.

"Great. You finally come back, and you look like a baby. No one's going to take you seriously," Vicki complained.

"Oi! Just because I look young doesn't mean that I can't do anything. I'm much better than I was back when you knew me. Also much cooler too," the Doctor said with a smug grin.

"Well, you're still arrogant that's for sure. Maybe you haven't changed too much," Vicki said with a grin.

"Thanks a lot!" the Doctor said pouting.

"You definitely know the Doctor," Clara said laughing.

"Et tu, Clara?" the Doctor said looking wounded.

"Doctor, are you going to help us or what? We don't have much time. Eldrad's capturing everyone and dismantling the entire city. We have to stop him now before it's too late," Vicki said.

"Don't worry, Vicki. I'll soon have this whole mess sorted out," the Doctor said confidently.

Then the entire TARDIS shook all over violently and knocked everyone inside of it to the ground. It kept shaking over and over again, and the Doctor looked to the monitor to see if he could find out from it what was going on. To his horror, he saw that the TARDIS was inside of what looked like the fingers of a giant hand that was shaking it back and forth like a child playing with a toy.

"What is going on here?" the Doctor asked as he struggled to try to get to the console in order to dematerialize the TARDIS and escape.

"That's the Monk's greatest weapon, Doctor. A giant mechanical man made out of bronze called Talos. He's just like the one from Greek mythology, Doctor," Vicki said.

"Talos was a myth though. He wasn't real," the Doctor said as he kept trying to get to his feet despite the massive shaking.

"Tell that to him," Alex said as he pointed to the image of the giant fingers on the monitor.

They could then hear the TARDIS began to start buckling and creaking and knew that Talos was beginning to squeeze the TARDIS as he shook it. He was trying to crush it in his hand!

"I have to get to the controls before the TARDIS' force field gives. I am not going out by being crushed to death by a mythological giant robot. It would look bad for my image," the Doctor said as he continued to try in vain to get to his feet.

"It's always nice to keep your priorities straight, Doctor," Clara said as she rolled her eyes at him.

That was when the shields started to go out as an alarm sounded on the console. The Doctor knew that they only had moments left now before the TARDIS was crushed like a tin can.

***Rose is looking for Astrid Peth who's being held prisoner by the Silence. She doesn't want the Doctor to know about it though because of the incredible guilt that he would feel since he's the one who set her consciousness loose in space. You can read more about it in the latest chapters of The Further Adventures of River Song if you're curious.**

**Next: Can the Doctor escape in time, or will this title have to change its name to It's Better With One? **


	10. Legend from the Past Part 2

CHAPTER 10

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Legend from the Past Part 2

Rose appeared a few feet away from Talos using the temporal shift device that Oswin had given to her. She had a spare moment in her quest to find Astrid where she wasn't really doing anything that important so she had decided to see how the Doctor was doing for a minute.

She felt a need to constantly check up on him whenever she was away from him because she knew that if she left him alone for too long that he was likely to get himself into an enormous amount of trouble. She had a bad feeling about him already because he had closed himself off from her in their link.

He only did that when he was trying to hide something from her. Usually it was that he had gotten into some horrible situation that he didn't want her to know about because he knew that she'd try to come and help him. She knew that he was too proud to admit that he needed help and too protective of her to want her to risk her life for him.

It was a good thing for him that she had decided to heed her own inner warnings about him and show up anyway. She saw what to her looked like an enormous robot about to squash the TARDIS in its hand like a bug and immediately pulled out her Vortex Screwdriver to use against it.

Rose scanned Talos and saw to her surprise that he was a living being and not a machine at all. She attempted to communicate with him and hoped that she wasn't wasting time that the Doctor didn't have by doing so.

"I invoke Convention 15 of the Shadow Proclamation to request parley with you. You are to cease all hostile actions immediately now by Galactic Law," Rose shouted to Talos.

Talos stopped shaking and crushing the TARDIS for a moment, but he still held onto it firmly. Rose smiled to herself. She had finally gotten that right! She had tried to do the same thing to the Sycorax back when she was human, but they had just laughed at her.

"Identify yourself," Talos said.

"I am Rose Tyler, sometimes known as the Lady Arkytior of the House of Lupinesglen from the planet Gallifrey. I don't want to get too hung up on titles though. You can just call me Rose," Rose said with a warm smile.

"Another Time Lord. I did not want to get involved in any squabbles between your people. I just wanted to be able to return home after being stranded here on this mudball for so long, and your fellow Time Lord offered to help me if I first did as he asked," Talos explained.

"My fellow Time Lord?" Rose asked.

The Monk finally came out of hiding where he had been since Talos had first started attacking the TARDIS. He had known that Rose would be here soon after all. They were just like they were back in his youth. Attack one and the other would always come running to their defense. They were always an annoying pair of pests, Theta and Arkytior, and they had only gotten worse as they had gotten older.

"Hello, Arkytior. I see that you've managed to stumble upon my plans yet again just like you always do. Whenever I have a good thing going, you and the Doctor always appear to derail it. This time though I'm ready for you. Show her why, Eldrad," the Monk said with a smug look on his face.

Rose now saw Eldrad come out of hiding as well, and he started using his ring to try to take over her mind right away. Rose both surprised and infuriated him when she started laughing at him.

"That's not going to work on me. The Doctor could tell you that my mind is very hard to change once I've got it set on something. Right now I have it set on stopping you and Morty here from permanently changing Earth's history," Rose said as she used her screwdriver against Eldrad's ring.

Eldrad discovered to his horror that his ring was starting to smoke. He realized that the Time Lady was doing something to it with her device. He cursed as she forced him to withdraw before she damaged it permanently. If that ever happened, the next time that he died would be for good.

The Monk almost howled in anger as in less than five minutes Rose had managed to at least temporarily stop both of his allies. He was now all alone against her. The only advantage that he had was at least she didn't have her powers this time. Of course what Mortimus had forgotten was that Rose was still dangerous even without them.

_If you're done showing off, can you talk Talos into letting my TARDIS go while you still have a chance?_ The Doctor asked Rose through their link.

_Sounds like someone's jealous, Doctor. Why don't you just dematerialize if you want to go so badly?_ Rose answered him.

_I would but uh . . ._ the Doctor started to say but he trailed off without finishing.

_What was that?_ Rose asked as a grin started to come on her face.

She had a feeling that she already knew what he was going to say. She knew him so well.

_The dematerialization circuit's shorted out. I can't free us without it, okay?_ The Doctor admitted with a mental sigh.

_Don't worry, Doctor. I'll save you._ Rose said as she began to laugh out loud now confusing both the Monk and Talos.

**Writer's note: What the Doctor said next in response to her was unprintable.**

_Such language! When did you get such a potty mouth?_ Rose teased him.

"Is she mad?" Talos asked the Monk due to the fact that Rose had seemed to burst out laughing for no reason.

"I've always thought so," the Monk said.

"Oh, you made a funny. Don't strain yourself trying to crack a smile, Mortimus. You might break something," Rose said.

"I expected you to come, Arkytior. Did you really think that I wouldn't be ready for you?" the Monk asked.

He pulled out a small device from his pocket and all of Rose's equipment began to short circuit and stop working including her temporal shift device and her screwdriver. He began to laugh as Rose started throwing everything that she had come up with to compensate for her loss of her powers to the ground as it began to catch on fire and explode one by one.

"I heard about you and your new little gadgets, Arkytior. I decided to come up with a way around them all so I came up with this little device that could destroy them all at once with an electromagnetic pulse that not even Time Lord and Dalek technology could guard against. Now you're helpless before me. You have no powers, no weapons, and no Doctor this time. I finally have you right where I want you. I'm going to kill both of you now, and you're both helpless to stop me," the Monk gloated.

"Well, that depends really," Rose said.

"Depends on what?" the Monk asked exasperated as even now Rose refused to give up.

"On Talos here. We still have parlay, right?" Rose asked the giant.

"Yes. I have still not decided whether to help you or the Monk since I now find myself caught up in your feud," Talos said.

"You will help us, or you will die!" Eldrad said as he returned.

"Did you fix your ring, Eldrad?" Rose asked him with a smile.

"Your device did no permanent damage. I still have the use of all of the ring's powers while you no longer have any way to stop me. I am going to enjoy killing you and the Doctor," Eldrad said.

"There are no hostilities until parlay is ended according to Galactic Law," Talos said.

"Fool! I agreed to no parlay. It does not affect me in the slightest. Stay out of my way, or I will kill you too," Eldrad threatened Talos.

"Really?" Talos said as he raised himself up to his full height and towered above Eldrad, who looked like an insect in comparison to the giant.

The Monk now saw that things could quickly go the wrong way if Eldrad persisted in angering Talos so he tried his best to rescue the situation before it blew up in their faces.

"We will all abide by the parlay until Talos decides what he wants to do of course. Are you actually considering listening to her, Talos? I am the one who decided to help you when you were stranded on that island where your ship crash landed. You do still remember how you were trapped there for so many centuries with no way home while the humans kept coming there and attacking you, correct? I will free you from this world in exchange for your help in conquering it for my friend Eldrad here. All you have to do to go home is to obey my orders without question, and my orders are very simple this time. I order you to destroy the blue box in your hand and to kill Arkytior," the Monk said.

"What do you have to say?" Talos asked Rose.

"That blue box that you hold in your hand is your only way of going home. It is a time machine capable of traveling through time and space. My husband can use it to find your people and bring them to you so that you can go home. You will never go home if you listen to the Monk and Eldrad. They're only using you until they get what they want. Once they get that, they'll find some way to destroy you," Rose said.

"She's lying to you. She would say anything to survive," the Monk said.

"You could say that about anyone. We all want to live at the end of the day. It doesn't make me a liar though just because I happen to like living," Rose said.

Talos seemed to like that because he chuckled at her. He found himself trusting Rose more and more the longer that he talked to her. He had to admit that he hadn't trust either the Monk or Eldrad from the minute that he had met them. He was just so desperate to get home that he was willing to deal with anyone who could help him to get out of this place.

"Crush her, Talos. Crush her now, or you'll never get home. I'll leave you here forever," the Monk said as he grew impatient.

"It seems that you are the one who doesn't want to help me, Monk. Why else would you threaten to leave me?" Talos said in anger.

"He's using that promise to control you, Talos. He doesn't care about you or anyone else believe me," Rose said.

"Hello out there," the Doctor's voice said as it suddenly seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Hello?" Talos said as he looked around him in confusion.

"That's my husband. He's the one in the blue box that you're holding," Rose explained.

"Oh. Hello," Talos said as he looked at the TARDIS.

"If you'll let me go, I promise that I'll help you find a way back to your own planet. You're a Kapecian right? I know where Kapecia is because I've been there before. I saved them from an invasion by the Wirnn once. That was back when I used to wear a question mark sweater and spoke with a Scottish accent," the Doctor said through the TARDIS' outside speaker.

"Kapecia?" Rose said as she became lost in thought.

"Do you know it?" Talos asked her.

"I've been there before too. Your people found themselves right in the middle of a fight between the Daleks and the Movellans, and I had to stop both of them from using your planet as a battleground," Rose said.

Talos' eyes widened as he asked, "Are you the Bad Wolf?"

"Yes," Rose said.

"So what if she helped your people in the past for her own purposes. It doesn't mean that she's going to help you now," the Monk said.

"The Bad Wolf saved my entire world from being destroyed by the Movellans' planet destroying bomb. They had decided to sacrifice my world in order to deal a major blow to a Dalek fleet that had invaded us at the time. The Bad Wolf destroyed the bomb and the Daleks and sent the Movellans light years away with a wave of her hand. My mother told me all about it. She said that you saved her life when she was a little girl and helped her find her parents," Talos said as he looked at Rose with renewed respect now.

"Her name was Ishira right?" Rose asked as she remembered.

She remembered having been surprised at how much like a human or Time Lord child that the Kapecian girl had been. She was easily fifty feet tall but seemed so young and helpless to Rose that her heart had went out to her the moment that she had met her.

"It is you! I have decided. I will help you, Rose Tyler. If it wasn't for you then I wouldn't even exist in the first place," Talos said.

"You're getting as well-known as me, Rose, except that people actually like you and don't want to throw you off the planet the next time that you come back to see them," the Doctor said.

"It's probably just your winning way with people," Rose said with a chuckle.

"You have sealed your doom, Kapecian," Eldrad said angrily as he started to use his ring against Talos.

Talos laughed at him as he said, "Your ring doesn't work on me. You can't take over my mind so easily."

"It wasn't your mind that I was trying to affect," Eldrad said with a smirk.

An army of Trojans under Eldrad's control suddenly came up behind Talos and quickly hacked a huge piece out of his right heel with their swords. He started to have a torrent of blood pour out of his heel, and he screamed as he sank to his knees in agony.

"He's going to die now. You do know that right?" Rose asked Eldrad in anger.

"That is the price for betrayal," Eldrad said coldly.

Back on board the TARDIS where the Doctor and his companions had been watching this on the monitor the entire time, Vicki said, "It really is just like the Greek myths. A bronze nail is yanked out of Talos' heel, and his blood pours out of it killing him. Can you help him, Doctor?"

"I don't know. I may not have enough time. Unfortunately those myths were based on reality, Vicki. Kapecians have one weak spot in an otherwise impervious body. The back of their heels are very weak and can be removed very easily. Once this happens, all of their blood comes rushing out; and they will quickly bleed to death in a matter of minutes. It's one good reason that the Kapecians were never a warlike species since they would be defeated so quickly in battle by anyone who knew their weakness," the Doctor said sadly.

"There must be something that you can do, Doctor," Clara said.

"I don't know, Clara. I'm not sure that there's anything that can be done for him now," the Doctor said.

_I can help him._ Rose said in the Doctor's mind.

_Yes, and then your secret will be exposed to the Silence._ The Doctor warned her.

_I don't care. I can't just stand by and watch him die._ Rose answered.

The Doctor didn't want Talos to die either, but he also didn't want Rose to endanger herself again by making herself a target of the Silence once more when they learned the truth about her. He made a decision that he hoped he wouldn't regret when he dematerialized the TARDIS out of Talos' hand and then materialized it again somewhere nearby. He immediately hurried outside with his companions right behind him.

"I thought you said that the dematerialization circuit wasn't working," Rose said as he caught up to her.

"I made that up so that you'd stay longer. I also closed my mind off from you so you'd think that I was in trouble in order to get you here in the first place," the Doctor said.

"So you mean that you really didn't need my help at all?" Rose asked in a perturbed tone as she realized now that she really hadn't had to be there at all.

"I missed you," the Doctor admitted.

"Any other time I'd be touched, but now Talos might die for trying to help me," Rose said feeling guilty.

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have been inventing excuses to bring you back. I should have just waited for you to return. I got impatient though. Being away from you for too long makes me go crazy," the Doctor admitted.

Clara nodded her head emphatically behind his back to tell Rose that this was very, very true. She had never seen anyone mope around so much as the Doctor had without Rose. She thought it was extremely sweet that he missed Rose so much while at the same time she wanted to kill him for driving her crazy with his moodiness.

"Soon you will never be parted from her again, Doctor. Both of you will be dead, and then you will spend all eternity together and never be apart," Eldrad said with laughter.

"Man, that guy is just plain evil," Alex said.

"I think that he's just plain nuts," Mary responded back to him.

Eldrad began to attack them all now with his mind controlled Trojan servants as an army of them came after the Doctor, Rose, and their friends with their swords drawn and ready for battle. Talos meanwhile could do nothing to help because he was so weak from blood loss that he was close to death now. The Monk watched his enemies run from Eldrad's enslaved humans with a triumphant grin on his face. He was enjoying every moment of this.

_Doctor, I have to reveal myself now. I can't let us all die._ Rose said to the Doctor through their link.

_No. Wait a little longer before you do anything. I've come up with a way out of situations much worse than this in the past, and I'll do it again. Trust me, Rose. You don't need to endanger yourself to save us._ The Doctor insisted.

_What about Talos though? Do you have a plan to save him in time?_ Rose asked in despair.

The Doctor said nothing. There was nothing that he could say.

It was up to Rose now as she struggled to decide what to do. Should she reveal her secret and risk it falling into the hands of the Silence, or should she try to help Talos in some other way and risk killing him in the process? She had to decide quickly because time was running out.

**Next: Rose has a momentous decision to make as she decides whether to risk revealing her secret in front of everyone as the battle with Eldrad and the Monk comes to its conclusion. Will Rose try to win the battle by any means necessary and wind up possibly losing her greatest weapon against the Silence? What will happen if she doesn't? Also will Talos live or die?**


	11. Legend from the Past Part 3

CHAPTER 11

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Legend from the Past Part 3

The Doctor realized that he had caused this whole mess in the first place by not solving this himself when he should have so he was the one who was going to have to solve it. He could see that Rose was already very close to revealing herself by the look on her face, and he was not going to let that happen. It was time that he started reminding people why he was called The Oncoming Storm.

He pulled out his sonic screwdriver while he ran from the Trojans and put it on setting 77. That was the setting that he used to disrupt mental control over humans by aliens. He had put that one in the sonic after having his companions be hypnotized one too many times in the past.

He used the sonic to free the Trojans' minds, and then watched with a small smile on his face as all of them stopped in their tracks and immediately got sick. Some of them got splitting headaches, others became very dizzy, and the rest started throwing up.

During this chaos, Eldrad and the Monk slipped away. They would have to regroup and try a different tactic. They were far from beaten though. They were not about to give up a chance to take over the Earth and alter its early development that easily.

"What did you do?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"That was setting 77. I only use it in emergencies. It will disrupt the mental control of humans by any alien source. Unfortunately it also makes them very, very sick. That's why I don't use it. I used it once on Megan when she was still human; and after she finished throwing up for three hours, she knocked me out cold. I deserved it too. I really didn't know that it would affect her that way though. I misjudged the side effects that it would have on humans," the Doctor said.

"You'd better be glad that you didn't use that on me, or I'd have done worse than that," Rose said.

"I know. You'd have told your mother," the Doctor said.

"Another cheap shot at my mother," Rose said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Who is she?" Vicki asked Ian and Barbara.

"She's his wife," Ian told her.

"His wife? She must be the most understanding woman in the universe," Vicki said.

"Tell me about it. I don't even know how he's still alive. No jury in the universe would convict her. They'd say it was justifiable homicide," Clara joked.

"Oi! I'm standing right here," the Doctor said.

"So? Lighten up, Chin Boy. You need to get a sense of humor," Clara said.

"Since when do you call me that?" the Doctor said in surprise.

"Since now. It just popped into my head. I like it. I think I'll use it from now on," Clara said grinning.

"Well, I don't so drop it," the Doctor said.

"Sure thing, Chin Boy," Clara said laughing.

"Who are you to him then?" Vicki asked Clara.

"She's my work wife apparently," the Doctor said as he made a face.

"You wish," Clara said.

"No, I so don't," the Doctor replied.

"I'm Clara Oswald, his latest companion. I take it that you used to travel with him too," Clara said to Vicki.

"Yes, it was years ago. He was an old man then though. I don't know how he got so young, but I'd love to find out his secret. My name's Vicki by the way. I stayed here in Troy because I fell in love with their prince. Then he died, and I've been left here completely alone ever since to run the kingdom by myself. It's not that bad of a place and the people are nice, but it's not what I pictured my life here as being like when I stopped traveling with the Doctor. I don't want to run a whole nation. I never did. I kept hoping that the Doctor might come back and check on me so that I could leave, but he never did," Vicki said sadly.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I did check on you once the last time that I was dying, but it seemed like that you were happy. I saw you talking to some of the locals and solving their problems in your court. You seemed to love the people here," the Doctor said.

"Wait a minute. You were the one in the suit and tie, weren't you? I thought that I saw you for a second out of the corner of my eye one day, but you vanished as soon as I turned to look at you. So I wasn't just imagining things. It was real. Is it some kind of alien thing to keep changing your body all of the time? You looked different then too," Vicki asked.

"When I'm close to death, I change every cell in my body and become a new man in order to save myself. It's a little trick that my people can do to survive," the Doctor explained.

"That's too bad. I miss the grumpy old man," Vicki said.

"He's still a grumpy old man sometimes when he's not acting like a child," Rose said.

"You're his wife?" Vicki asked.

"Yes. I'm Rose," Rose said in a distracted voice as she looked at the barely moving Talos with worry on her face.

"I don't know what to do for him, Rose. I'm sorry," the Doctor said.

"He's a silicon based lifeform, right?" Vicki asked as she became lost in thought.

"Right. He's similar to Eldrad," Rose said as she looked at her with surprise at her knowledge of aliens.

"Vicki's from the 25th century, Rose. Long after silicon based aliens had become public knowledge to humanity. I picked her up on the planet Dido after her ship crashed there and her father had been murdered by one of the other survivors along with everyone else except for her. She was all alone so I took her with me on the TARDIS," the Doctor explained.

"That was right after Susan left, wasn't it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," the Doctor admitted.

Rose smiled at him for a moment. She knew him so well. Vicki reminded her of Susan in a way. She had a similar personality. It wasn't hard to connect the dots when you put it all together. The Doctor had missed Susan and had taken Vicki on as a passenger because of that.

"I have an idea that I think may help Talos. There are many stonemasons in my resistance group who could create a plaster patch over his heel. I'll go get them while there are no patrols around to catch me," Vicki said.

"That's brilliant, Vicki. Please hurry. He's already bled a lot," Rose said with worry.

"I'll be right back. Don't worry," Vicki said as she raced off.

She came back minutes later with a whole group of masons who quickly went to work on making a patch on Talos' heel once they got over their initial fear of him. They quickly stopped the bleeding as they worked. It would take a while to finish patching his heel up, but at least Talos had stopped gushing out blood every second. Rose only hoped that it was not too late already. He had lost a lot of blood before they came.

The Doctor scanned Talos with his sonic and nodded at Rose with a smile on his face. Talos was going to be alright. He was very weak and was already unconscious from blood loss at this point, but he would live. It was a good thing that he was so big. It took him a while to lose enough blood to kill him.

"Thanks, Vicki. You just helped us out in a major way. If you'd still like to leave Troy, we'd be glad to take you anywhere that you'd like to go," Rose offered.

"Well, I was talking things over with Ian and Barbara, and they said that they would be willing to let me stay with them a while in their time until I could establish myself a life there. I'd love to do that. I actually did enjoy being here at first. All of that changed after Troilus died, however. I really don't belong here now that he's gone. I realize now that I made a mistake in staying in a time so far from my own. The twenty first century isn't exactly my time either, but at least I would have friends there," Vicki said as she looked at Ian and Barbara.

"We'll be glad to do that for you," the Doctor said.

"I can't leave just yet though. I need to know that Eldrad and the Monk are finished for good before I leave these people at their mercy," Vicki said.

"Don't worry. I plan on doing exactly that. I'd still like to know how the Monk got out of Shada though," the Doctor said.

"I'll give you three guesses, Doctor," Rose said.

"Kovarian," the Doctor said.

"I think so. How else could the Monk escape the most heavily guarded prison in the universe unless the Silence, who no one can remember, broke him out of it? I think that they also broke the Great Intelligence out of the Library's computer. I don't think that he would have been able to escape otherwise. I keep meaning to check on CAL and see if she's alright," Rose said.

"You think that they were already at work even back then?" the Doctor asked surprised.

"Yes. I do. They were also behind Queen Xanxia's attack on me back at Iceworld at around that same time that had a similar effect on me as the Emperor's weapon did later. She was working with Davros even then. I'm sure of that. I think that Kovarian has being planning on getting rid of my powers for a long while," Rose said.

"I think that you're right. Magnus Greel was obviously under their thumb too and so was Mrs. Wormwood. They've sunk their claws into a lot of our old enemies and sent them against us lately. I think that they're planning something big and trying to get us all out of the way ahead of time so that we're no longer around to stop them when the time comes for them to go into action," the Doctor said.

"I think so too, Doctor. I've been setting my own plan in motion though to stop them," Rose said mysteriously.

"Really?" the Doctor asked curiously.

Rose said nothing else though. At least not out loud. There was plenty of communication going on through their link however as she silently filled the Doctor in on the whole thing.

While this was going on, Vicki kept staring at Clara. She was starting to make Clara feel very uncomfortable. Vicki realized what she was doing and immediately stopped as she apologized.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to stare. It's just that you look so familiar to me. Do I know you from somewhere?" Vicki asked.

"No. I'm never met you before. You may have met my friend Oswin though. She looks exactly like me. It's very odd and hard to explain. She's a version of me from another timeline that never existed now according to the Doctor and Rose," Clara explained.

"Maybe I did meet her. I don't know. I just remember a woman who looked like you helping the Doctor once. This was after Ian and Barbara left and Steven took their place. Knowing the way that time travel is, it might really be you; and you just haven't done it yet," Vicki suggested with a grin.

"That's weird to think about," Clara admitted with a nervous look on her face.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," Vicki said as she put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm sure that it's nothing," Clara said.

Clara wondered if it might be more that that though. Rose had told her about the original Clara sacrificing herself at Trenzalore and becoming fragmented in time and space within the Doctor's own personal timeline. Even though she knew that Clara was eventually saved by the Doctor, there had still been parts of her that were stuck in time and space that had no idea who they really were.

She was worried that since the timeline had been altered that there was now a chance on her possibly not being saved this time if she were to have to sacrifice herself. That would mean that all that would be left of her would be splintered people with barely a memory of her past life like Oswin seemed to be. She knew that she would do it to save the Doctor without a second thought if it came to that because she had come to care a great deal about him over their travels together, but she really hoped that she didn't have to anymore. She hoped that things had changed enough from that other timeline that it wouldn't happen that way again.

She didn't have much time to think about it because at around that time the Monk and Eldrad finally returned with a new army behind them. This time it was an army of people who looked like Kastrians.

"I thought that you said that the Kastrians were all dead," Mary said.

"They were," the Doctor said as he stared at the new arrivals in astonishment. Then he realized in horror what must have happened.

"He gave his people their silicon bodies in the first place. Unlike the Kapecians, they didn't start out that way naturally. It seems like that he's done the same thing to some of the people here. He's turned them into his own new Kastrian army," the Doctor said.

"Do you see now, Doctor? You've lost. The Monk found my ring floating in space and took me back to Kastria to regenerate me. I brought my technology from there to Earth so that I could start over again fresh here. I have used the same process here that I used on my own people, and now the Kastrians have been reborn. Earth will soon become New Kastria and will become the center of my new empire. My empire will last for all eternity and rule over all of time and space. The Time Lords are finished, Doctor. Now the Kastrians will become the new Lords of Time," Eldrad said with undisguised glee on his face.

"Did you give them the secrets of the TARDIS?" the Doctor asked the Monk in shock.

"Oh yes. I told Eldrad everything that he needs to know in order to perfect time travel once he gets himself firmly established here on Earth. One way or another, this planet will be taken out of the cosmic order for good. Your precious humans will soon become extinct. They will just become another footnote in history. No longer will they be around to give you aid and comfort in the future. I couldn't possibly think of a better way to hit you where it would hurt the most, Doctor, and alter history in a major way all at the same time. This is just a win-win situation for me," the Monk said happily.

"Doctor, I feel strange," Mary said.

"Mary!" Alex called out in alarm.

They could all see that Mary was now starting to look crystalline like a Kastrian. Mary looked at him in horror as her eyes pleaded with him for help.

"Oh, no! No! Now's it's happening to me too," Alex said as he looked down at his own rapidly changing body as it now started to change form now too.

"Why isn't that happening to me yet?" Vicki asked.

"Time is being altered on a major scale. Its effects haven't hit you just yet though, Vicki, because you're from further in the future than Mary and Alex," the Doctor explained.

"What about me, Ian, and Barbara?" Clara asked as she kept looking at her hands in fear.

For the moment, she wasn't changing just yet. She feared that she would at any minute though.

"Ian and Barbara's bodies were altered by me when I had my powers. I think that would explain them. As for you, I have no idea. You could still change at any time though," Rose warned.

"Oh, wonderful," Clara said as she looked at Rose in fear.

"Will I still be me?" Mary asked the Doctor as she began to look less and less human.

"Your personality should be the same, but your memories will probably change. Eldrad's changes to humanity are already affecting history and rewriting it as we speak. You will soon start believing that you are from Eldrad's altered timeline if I don't stop him soon," the Doctor said.

Now Vicki started to change as well, and Clara still didn't understand why she hadn't yet. She looked at the Doctor with eyes filled with fear just as the others all were now too. Even Rose wondered if she too might start changing since she had once been human herself. She wondered if it might even affect her despite her being a Time Lord.

"Time is still in a state of flux. It's still not too late to stop this. I just have to contain it to this area," the Doctor said as he raced back to his TARDIS.

"Destroy them all especially the Doctor. Do not let him get to his TARDIS," Eldrad ordered his new Kastrian recruits.

The Kastrians began to march towards Rose and the others while the Doctor rushed toward the TARDIS in an attempt to put the new Kastrians into a time loop. All that he had to do was to reach the TARDIS, and he could still undo the effects of this event on the timestream before it was too late.

As it turned out though, a newly awakened Talos was going to help take care of the Kastrians in a much simpler way for him. Talos took the Kastrians completely by surprise as he crushed them all into dust one by one under his huge feet in no time.

Soon all of the Kastrians were gone except for Eldrad, who had fled from the anger of the huge Kapecian along with the Monk. The two of them quickly made their way to the Monk's TARDIS and fled as it dematerialized.

Mary, Alex, and Vicki were now fully returned to normal again. Time had now been restored to the way that it was before.

"I've never been so relieved about anything in my life. Thank you so much, Talos!" Mary said with a relieved smile.

"It was the least that I could do. All of you saved my life when you didn't have to," Talos said with an embarrassed look on his face.

It seemed to Rose as if Talos had a bit of a crush on Mary the way that he was acting around her. She already knew that Mary was meant for someone else though so that was not to be.

The Doctor was sad despite time being restored. So many people had lost their lives here today even though it had been necessary to preserve the timestream. He was always sad about wasted lives no matter how much good was done as a result.

"I don't like it either, but it was necessary to prevent the end of humanity," Rose said softly to him

"I know. That doesn't make it any easier though," the Doctor said sadly.

Troy was quickly back to normal as the resistance movement freed the captured Trojans and set about restoring the city back as it had been before. The Doctor then hunted down and found all of Eldrad's technology that was in the area. He destroyed all of it so that Eldrad wouldn't be able to return and start over again with his plans at a later date.

The danger to Earth had finally passed, and now they were all ready to return home. They still had to decide what to do with Talos though. The Doctor wasn't sure exactly how he would fit him into the TARDIS.

Rose soon had the answer to that problem however as she quickly repaired all of her equipment that the Monk had destroyed. She touched Talos, and the temporal shift device that Oswin had made for her transported both of them away from there. Rose was now taking Talos back home as she returned to River and Donald to help them in their search for Astrid.

The Doctor sighed as Rose left him. He knew that she would be back soon, but he hated being parted from her for even five minutes. Several hundred years had been more than enough time to have been without her. He didn't want to spend any longer apart from her than necessary now that he finally had her back with him at last.

"She'll be back soon," Clara said gently to him.

"Yeah," the Doctor said sadly.

"Come on, Chin Boy. Let's take you on another adventure somewhere to get your mind off of her. I know. We'll go to UNIT and snoop around. They're always up to something there. I bet that we get ourselves into trouble in no time. We can drop in on them as soon as we drop off Vicki, Ian, and Barbara back home. Well it will be home to Vicki now for a while even if it isn't just yet. I'll tell you what. I'll drive this time. I can use the practice for my driving skills," Clara said as she chatted away to him.

As everyone got back into the TARDIS and it dematerialized, Clara danced merrily around the console as she worked the controls. She was getting better and better at piloting the Old Cow all of the time. It seemed that the two of them had reached some kind of truce together at last.

"It seems like to me that she's acting more and more like him all of the time," Alex whispered to Mary about Clara.

"You're just mad because she turned down your advances," Mary said.

"What is up with that? Why does everyone keep shooting me down for?" Alex asked in frustration.

"I have no idea. You're pretty cute. If you were a little older, I'd go for you. You're just a little too young for me though. Sorry," Vicki said as she kissed him on the cheek.

"That's okay," Alex said as his face turned red with embarrassment, but his heart jumped with excitement. Finally someone liked him even if it wouldn't work out. Maybe there was a chance for him to find someone after all.

"That was so sweet, Vicki," Barbara said to her when Alex was out of earshot.

"He seems like a nice guy. I just wanted to make him feel better. I think that I actually would like him if I were younger like I was when we first met. He really is too young for me now though. Hopefully he'll find someone someday," Vicki said.

"I think that you're going to like living in our time, Vicki. At least I hope so," Ian said.

"I know I will. Tell me. Do you have transmats yet?" Vicki asked.

"No. I'm afraid not," Ian said.

"Oh, so you still have to go to the moon colony the hard way, huh?" Vicki asked.

"We don't have a moon colony yet?" Barbara said.

"Oh. I really am far back then. You're not quite as ancient as the Trojans, but you're not far away from them either. Oh, well. At least we'll have cell phones, right? Please tell me that you have cell phones," Vicki said.

"Yes, of course," Ian said almost laughing at her.

"Good. I've been dying to use some kind of communications device for about 10 years now. I've been suffering through the worst kind of technological addiction withdrawal in history. I actually had the shakes from it for a while there. Of course the devices I'm used to were far more advanced than your cell phones, but I'll make do with what I have. For now. I may have to introduce a little futuristic technology early though so that I can make use of it to keep me from being too bored," Vicki said as she chatted away happily to Ian and Barbara.

"Don't you dare!" the Doctor said angrily.

"Rose was right. He really is still a grumpy old man at heart, isn't he?" Vicki said with a grin.

**Next: Clara's idea for a trip to UNIT turns into a nightmare for the Doctor as Clara overshoots the right time zone and brings the TARDIS back to UNIT in the days of the Third Doctor. That's right! It's 3 and 11 together as they deal with the menace of the Master. If they can actually stop fighting with each other long enough to actually notice that he's there that is. Maybe a newly returned Rose can help keep them apart long enough to save the day.**


	12. The Plot of Evil

CHAPTER 12

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**For the Third Doctor, this story takes place between the stories The Three Doctors and Carnival of Monsters from the classic show.**

The Plot of Evil

The TARDIS materialized inside of UNIT HQ, and Clara cheered with joy. She had done it. After she had dropped Ian, Barbara, and Vicki off back home, she had gone straight to UNIT HQ and hadn't missed a beat. She had just flown the TARDIS twice all by herself with no help whatsoever!

"Good job, Clara. You're a quick study. Of course you had me as a teacher so you're naturally going to do well. I'm the coolest teacher there is," the Doctor said smugly.

"You can really tell that Rose isn't here. She'd have already cut him down to size by now," Mary said to Alex.

"I miss Rose," Alex admitted.

"Do you miss her because of her personality or her appearance?" Mary asked.

"Both. She's not bad to look at I must admit. I honesty do miss her sense of humor though, and the way that she can just make everything seem better somehow no matter how bad it gets. I also miss her eyes, her lips, and her . . . other places," Alex admitted with an evil grin on his face.

"Oh, you're incorrigible!" Mary said with a sigh.

"I really hope that you weren't just talking about my wife," the Doctor said threateningly.

"No! I – I – I was talking about Vicki. Yeah, I really liked Vicki," Alex said thinking fast.

"Good save," Mary whispered in his ear and giggled.

"Oh, yes. Vicki's a sweet girl. Don't talk about 'Vicki' like that again though, or I'll have to chuck you out into space, got it?" the Doctor said with a not so friendly smile on his face.

"Yes, sir!" Alex said with a red face.

"Don't call me sir. I'm the Doctor or Mr. Cool whichever you prefer. No, you'd better just stick to the Doctor. I like that better," the Doctor babbled.

"Come on, Mr. Cool, let's go see if UNIT has anything interesting going on. I'm sure that they know about some kind of alien invasion or scheme to take over the world going on somewhere that you can sink your teeth into," Clara said happily.

"I just said that I didn't like Mr. Cool, Clara. I want you to keep calling me the Doctor," the Doctor protested.

"I prefer Mr. Cool I think. It's either that or Chin Boy. Which do you prefer?" Clara said with a mischievous grin.

"I'll pick Mr. Cool," the Doctor said with a long face.

"I thought you might," Clara said.

"Thanks, Clara," the Doctor suddenly said in a serious tone.

"For what?" Clara asked.

"For trying to cheer me up while Rose isn't here. Thank you!" the Doctor said with a warm smile.

"Anytime," Clara said as she smiled back at him.

Clara opened the doors of the TARDIS, and the Doctor and Clara exited to appear inside of a lab that was full of equipment that looked out of date. For the Doctor, it was a lab that looked very, very familiar as well.

"Oh, no!" the Doctor said as he looked at the familiar scenery around him.

"What is it, Doctor?" Clara asked in confusion.

"Oh, no!" the Doctor said again as he saw an exact duplicate of the TARDIS in the far corner of the room.

"Doctor, is that the TARDIS?" Clara said as it began to dawn on her that she had made a huge mistake somehow.

"Yes, we're back in the past when I used to be UNIT's Scientific Advisor, and I wore all kinds of fancy clothes. We have to get out of here before I find me!" the Doctor said as he ran back towards his TARDIS like a scared rabbit.

"Wait a minute! What's so bad about meeting your past self?" Clara asked as she ran after him.

"Trust me. You don't want to find out," the Doctor called back as he raced for the TARDIS doors.

"Oh, no! Not you again!" the Third Doctor said as he saw Eleven when he came through the door to his lab.

"Great!" Eleven said as he glared angrily at Clara.

"Hello, I'm Clara Oswald. You must be the Doctor too," Clara said.

"I regard myself as the real Doctor actually, but yes, you're absolutely right. It's so nice to meet you, my dear," Three said as he smiled warmly at Clara.

He stared at her oddly for a moment and said, "Excuse me for staring, but you seem so familiar to me. Have we met before?"

"No. I don't think so. I know your future self of course," Clara said.

"It's amazing. You remind me so much of someone that I used to know a long time ago. She was a good friend of mine. Of course you couldn't be her. She was a Time Lord," Three said.

Eleven started to look at Clara more intently now and noticed for the first time that she bore a striking resemblance to his old friend, Cydonia. It couldn't be though. Clara was human through and through. For her to have been connected to Cydonia in some way would have been impossible, wouldn't it?

"I see you've noticed it too. Don't tell me that you never seen it before now," Three said in disbelief.

"The past is further away for me than it is for you," Eleven said.

"Yes, you do seem to be getting a little bit long in the tooth, old boy," Three said.

"What are you two talking about? How could I look like a Time Lady? Why didn't you or Rose ever tell me about this before?" Clara asked with a frightened expression on her face.

"I just didn't remember, Clara. That was a long time ago. This version of me is still just a kid really so of course he's going to remember it clearer," Eleven said.

"Who are you calling a child?" Three said indignantly.

"Doctor, is your other self back again? I haven't heard you that angry since he was here," a voice very familiar to Eleven said from behind the lab door.

Jo Grant walked into the lab, and Eleven began to smile at seeing her so young again. He had last seen her as a grandmother not too long ago so this was quite a change.

"Doctor, is that . . . ," Jo asked as she stared at Eleven.

"I'm afraid so, yes," Three said as he frowned at her.

"Hello, Jo. It's so nice to see you again," Eleven said as he smiled at Jo.

"It's nice to meet you too, Doctor. Again I mean," Jo said nervously.

"He confuses you, doesn't he? He does that to me all of the time," Clara admitted.

"I'm Jo Grant. Are you his companion in the future?" Jo asked.

"Yes, I am," Clara said.

Jo looked at her sadly for a moment and then smiled. Clara guessed that it must have just hit her right then that she wouldn't be traveling with the Doctor forever. Clara had already had this realization some time ago, but she was determined to enjoy her time with him as long as it lasted.

"You came here by mistake, didn't you?" Three asked Eleven with a grin on his face.

"Yes but it wasn't my fault. I was letting Clara drive, and she took me to the right place but the wrong time," Eleven said.

"You're letting your companions drive? Since when do we do that? No wonder you came to the wrong place. That's very reckless of you. Very reckless indeed! You could have wound up anywhere at any time. She might have taken my TARDIS to the center of a star and gotten you all killed," Three said.

Clara looked at him with a hurt look on her face, and he instantly felt sorry for his words.

"No offense meant, my dear. I'm sure that you're a very intelligent and capable young woman. It's just that you're not a Time Lord so having you drive the TARDIS is not a good idea. You don't know how to think fourth dimensionally the way that a Time Lord would," Three said.

Jo smiled at him as he attempted in his own bumbling way to apologize to Clara. The Doctor was merciless when it came to belittling his other selves, but he never wanted to hurt the feelings of any of his companions if he could help it, even the ones from the future. That was one of the many things that she liked so much about him.

"He means that he's sorry," Jo said to Clara.

"I got that. I speak Doctor too. Most of the time," Clara said with a giggle.

"He is a little hard to understand sometimes, isn't he?" Jo asked with a grin.

"Only sometimes?" Clara asked and both of them began to laugh together.

"This happens every time," Eleven said with a sigh.

"I can't imagine what they find so funny. I mean I can see why they'd laugh at you of course," Three said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Eleven asked pouting.

"Well, just look at yourself, old chap. You look like you just came from rummaging through the closet of a fashion school drop-out," Three said.

"I'll have you know that these clothes are the height of fashion," Eleven said.

"In what parallel universe?" Three asked with a chuckle.

The Brigadier picked that moment to walk in with some papers in his hand for the Doctor to sign. He took one look at Eleven and said, "Doctor, who on Earth is this? He looks like a madman."

"Thank you for the compliment, Brigadier," Eleven said with a wide smile on his face.

"Oh, no! Another one," the Brigadier said with a sigh.

"I'll try very hard not to take offense at that," Eleven said with a frown.

"I'm afraid that he's the me from the future, Brigadier. Don't worry though. He's not staying too long. I hope," Three said.

"You're absolutely right about something for once. I'm not. Come on, Clara. Let's go. The air is way too stuffy in here," Eleven said angrily.

Mary chose that moment to poke her head out of the TARDIS as she said, "Is it safe to come out now? You never did come back and let us know."

"No, it's not, Mary. There is a very unpleasant and horrible fellow out here that you don't want to meet. Trust me. Get back in the TARDIS. We're going," Eleven said in a huff.

"Well, there's no need to be rude, old chap," Three said.

"Oh, there most certainly is a need. You don't have to worry about it much longer though. I'm leaving. Come on, Clara. What's keeping you?" Eleven asked as he stood impatiently at the TARDIS doors.

Clara meanwhile was talking away with Jo as the two of them compared notes with each other and had been ignoring both of them as they fought. She was always ignoring the Doctor while he babbled on after all.

"Clara!" the Doctor shouted.

"Oh, let her have some fun, Doctor! Maybe you should try to have some too. I have no idea why you can't get along with yourself. Every time you meet one of your other selves it's always the same thing. Both of you act like children," Rose said with a huge grin on her face.

She had actually appeared almost right in front of them with her temporal shift device and had gone completely unnoticed until she spoke up. That was how heated the argument was that the two Doctors had been having.

"Rose," Eleven said with undisguised happiness in his voice as he ran toward her and held her tightly.

The two of them then began to kiss passionately as they forgot about everyone else for a while. They had been separated from each other for several days after all while Rose went to help free Astrid from the Silence. They had both thought that they would go insane at times.

"Yes, well. I suppose this is a bad time to be bothering you, Doctor. I'll come back to let you sign these later," the Brigadier said as he looked uncomfortable.

"Maybe we should all go out in the hall and give them some time alone," Three said as he smiled at them.

He remembered who Rose was now of course. He had remembered her from the moment that Eleven had arrived. The blocks on his memories of what he had learned about the future were temporarily lifted whenever Eleven was around. He and the Doctor's other past selves had made sure of that because they always wanted to remember the truth about Rose whenever she was there. None of them had wanted to miss spending a moment with her.

This time Mary and Alex came out of the TARDIS and joined them outside of the lab.

"Who is that woman, Doctor? I take it that she's not just a companion to you," the Brigadier asked.

"I'd like to know that as well," Jo asked.

She had never seen the Doctor even notice a woman in that way before. It had taken her completely by surprise to watch the future Doctor kiss her like that.

"She's my wife, Brigadier," Three said.

"How do you know that? The Doctor always drills it into me that no one's supposed to know about their own future. Are there exceptions for Time Lords or something?" Clara asked in worry.

"There's no need to fret about it, Clara. I'll put blocks in place in my mind that will keep me from remembering anything that I learn here today. Those blocks will only lift whenever I see my future self or Rose again," Three assured her.

"What about them though?" Clara asked as she looked at Jo and the Brigadier.

"I'll take care of that later," Three whispered to her.

Jo and the Brigadier both looked at the Doctor in surprise as they tried to process what he had just said about Rose. The Brigadier eventually smiled while Jo wasn't sure what to think. It seemed that she would make no lasting impact on the Doctor in the future in any way. She was just another in a long line that would be forgotten as soon as she left apparently.

Eleven and Rose came outside finally, and Rose became embarrassed as she realized that they had caused them all to leave. She looked at all of them apologetically.

"I'm sorry, everyone. It's just that I haven't seen the Doctor in a while, and we both missed each other," Rose said.

"There's no need to explain. I quite understand," the Brigadier said.

"Yes, so do I," Jo said as she looked away from Rose while she tried to control her emotions.

Rose wasn't fooled though. She knew that something was bothering Jo, and she immediately set about trying to find out what it was.

"Hello, my name's Rose. I already know who you are, Jo. The Doctor's told me all about you," Rose said.

"He has?" Jo asked in surprise.

"Of course he has. He thinks very highly of you," Rose said.

From the look on Jo's face, Rose knew that she had guessed correctly about what had been eating at Jo. She smiled as she continued to tell Jo what the Doctor had told her while making sure not to reveal too much about the future. You never could tell after all when a memory might stick around even if a person's memories were suppressed.

It was at that moment that the Master decided to launch yet another attack against the Doctor. The Master had been behind many of the recent troubles that the Third Doctor had been involved in lately in one way or another. He had been after the Doctor ever since he had first arrived on Earth to help the Autons to pull off yet another unsuccessful invasion attempt on the first day that the Doctor and Jo had met one another.

"Greyhound Sixty to Greyhound One. Come in, sir," a voice called out over the Brigadier's portable communication device.

"This is Greyhound One. Come in," the Brigadier said.

"We have a situation out here, Sir. There are several females with snakes for hair who look just like Medusa from the old myths outside. They're turning everyone who looks at them into stone!" the voice on the other end said in a near panicked tone.

"Say again, Private!" the Brigadier said as he couldn't believe his ears.

"I said that there are several women out here with snakes on their heads who can turn people to stone. Our weapons have no effect on them, but they can certainly hurt us," the soldier said.

"I'll send reinforcements. Over," the Brigadier said.

"Thank you, Sir. Over and out," the unnamed soldier said.

"Sounds like Gorgons, but not the kind that I've dealt with in the past. They sound more like the purely mythological kind," Eleven said.

"Like the one that you encountered in the Land of Fiction," Rose said.

"I remember that. That Medusa was defeated though once no one believed that she was real," Three recalled.

"Is there any way that you can help my men out there besides telling them not to look at them?" the Brigadier asked.

"Not yet, Brigadier, but we're working on it," Three said.

"According to the old myths, you could look at their reflection in any kind of mirrored surface without being turned to stone if that helps," Clara said.

"Thank you, Miss Oswald. That should come in handy. That means that we can still fight them if we can ever find out how to kill them," the Brigadier said as he told his men what Clara had just said.

"I said that we're working on it, old chap," Three said.

"Work harder. My men are possibly dying out there," the Brigadier said with concern.

"I know that and I'm sorry, Alastair. I'm trying to find out what they are. It would really help if I could see them without turning into stone. Do you have some kind of video feed to the outside?" Eleven asked.

"I have a camera, yes. I'll patch the feed into the conference room," the Brigadier said as he gestured for Eleven and Three to join him there.

Rose meanwhile headed to the front entrance of the base with a concerned Clara, Jo, Mary, and Alex right behind her. They had no idea what she thought that she was up to considering that the Brigadier had just said that his men were turning to stone when they looked at her.

"Rose? Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Clara asked.

"I don't know. It depends on what you think I'm doing," Rose replied with an evil grin.

"I think that you're about to go outside to look at the dangerous Medusas in person which would be very bad. That's what I think you're doing," Clara said.

"It does look like that, doesn't it?" Rose asked with that same grin on her face.

"She's just like the Doctor, isn't she?" Jo asked with a chuckle.

"Sometimes. Usually she's the more sensible one though," Clara said looking bothered.

"Still miss Rose?" Mary asked Alex.

"Always. Even if she is leading us into certain death, I can't say it's all that bad. I mean what a way to go!" Alex said as he stared intently at Rose as he walked behind her.

"You can't be that shallow," Mary complained.

"He's not. He just wants a girlfriend very badly. I'll have to look into that for you when I have the time. I need to do that if only so that I can keep you from staring at my bum all of the time," Rose said as she glanced back at the two of them.

"You know about that?" Alex asked in embarrassment.

"It's pretty obvious, Alex. You're not exactly trying to hide it all of that well, are you? I would have already slapped you into next week if you weren't so young," Rose said.

"I'm sorry," Alex apologized and meant it.

"Good, you should be. Like I said, I've got to get your love life sorted out so that I don't have to worry about the Doctor chucking you into Mt. Vesuvius," Rose said.

"He wouldn't really do that, would he?" Alex asked nervously.

"Of course not. I'm just kidding. He wouldn't go back to Mt. Vesuvius again. He'd probably just take you to Krakatoa instead on the day that it exploded," Rose said with a straight face.

"Please tell me that you're still kidding," Alex pleaded.

Rose remained silent and began to walk towards the entrance again with a small smile on her face. That would teach Alex to leer at her like that.

"I like her. I bet he does too," Jo said to Clara.

"She's the love of his life. If he's without her for more than a day, he starts to fall apart," Clara admitted to her.

"That's so sweet. I'm glad that he finds someone like her in the future. My Doctor gets so lonely sometimes. He thinks I can't tell but I can. He hides it very well, but you can tell if you know how to look for it," Jo said.

"He must get worse with age then. My Doctor doesn't even try to hide it anymore. He just goes berserk and drives me nuts whenever she's away too long," Clara said.

"He's not that bad is he?" Jo asked.

"I've had homicidal thoughts several times in the last few days. If I didn't love the man so much, I'd have probably already acted upon them and ended all of his regenerations for him just to shut him up," Clara said through gritted teeth.

Jo looked at Clara as she said, "He's that bad, huh?"

"You have no idea. Your Doctor seems to be a lot better at controlling himself than mine is. Mine acts just like a five year old sometimes, and that's on a good day," Clara said with a grin.

"Mine does too sometimes. I've seen that only just lately when two of his past selves came to visit him, and he did nothing but argue with them the whole time. I was surprised that they got anything done," Jo confided.

"He never changes, does he?" Clara asked.

"Not really, no," Jo said with a laugh.

Rose could hear everything that they were saying, and she laughed to herself. She remembered when that had been her and Sarah Jane once. It was fun to dish dirt on the Doctor once you found someone else who had gone through what you had with him. It was one of the reasons that she loved to meet his old companions so much.

Rose finally reached the front entrance and steeled herself for what was to come. She had a plan for finding out what was going on here. She just hoped that it worked. She pulled a small make-up mirror out of one of her jacket pockets and then turned toward the others.

"I think that I can get a good look at them with this mirror without being turned to stone. Maybe I can identify them before the two Doctors do. I've been around the universe once or twice myself after all. None of you must follow me outside, okay? I know that companions aren't supposed to obey that rule on general principle and I usually encourage that, but please just listen to me this time and don't follow me out there, okay?" Rose said with concern.

"Got it," Clara said.

"If I don't return in ten minutes, go tell the Doctor. Hopefully, he can still save me if I've made a stupid mistake," Rose said.

"You rely on that too much sometimes, Rose," Clara berated her.

"Who are you, my mum?" Rose said as she laughed.

"I just don't want to lose you, and I know that he doesn't either. If that ever happened, I'd have to kill him. Don't make me commit homicide, Rose," Clara said with a serious look on her face.

"I'll be careful I promise," Rose said.

Rose went outside then with her head turned and her eyes focused on her little compact's mirror. She could hear the UNIT soldiers continuously firing away at something, but so far she couldn't see anything but them in her mirror's reflection. What was going on here?

On the inside, the doors to the UNIT base suddenly shut closed automatically, and Clara couldn't open them no matter how hard she tried. What on Earth was going on?

In the conference room, the Brigadier and the two Doctors were watching the video feed to the outside. So far they saw nothing, but the soldiers firing at thin air. Then the soldiers would stiffen and stop moving for no apparent reason.

"What is going on out there, Doctor?" the Brigadier asked in disbelief.

"It looks like some form of mind control, Brigadier. The soldiers are convinced that whatever they're seeing is real and so their minds convince them that they're frozen when the fake Medusas look at them," Three said.

"Mind control or hypnosis?" Eleven asked.

"The Master," both Doctors said at the same time.

The door to the conference room suddenly locked behind them, and a voice that both of the Doctors and the Brigadier knew very well said, "Very good, Doctor, or should I say Doctors. I must say that you do not improve with age, Doctor. I love the chin by the way."

The Master appeared out of a closet with his Tissue Compression Eliminator held out in front of him. He smiled at the three men as he came closer and closer to them.

"It's some of my best work ever I must say. I disguised myself as one of your soldiers, and as I talked to each and every soldier on your base I slowly hypnotized them all into believing that they would encounter some of the mythical Gorgons from Earth's mythology if they went outside of UNIT's headquarters at this exact time. I even made them believe that if the Gorgons looked at them that they would turn to stone. They own minds filled in the blanks from there. I wasn't sure that even I could pull off mass hypnosis on such a scale but I did. Now I've locked the four of us in here alone while everyone else is outside fighting imaginary creatures so that I can finally finish you off at last, Doctor," the Master said with a triumphant grin on his face.

"You know I really miss the beard. He just doesn't look the same without it. It just adds that extra touch of menace to his meaningless threats against me. I can believe him more with the beard than I can without it," Eleven said.

"What are you babbling about, Doctor?" the Master asked in irritation.

"Do you see? The beard is just so much cooler when it comes to intimidating people. You've gotta love the beard. Maybe I should grow a beard. I grew one once, and it didn't look half bad if I do say so myself," Eleven said.

"What are you going on about, old chap? What's all of this nonsense about a beard?" Three asked in irritation.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Just forget I ever mentioned it. I'm just saying that he looks convincing when he says that he's going to kill me but he's not. Come on, Koschei. You know it and I know it. You're not going to pull the trigger on that thing. You never would because without me you wouldn't have anyone to torture anymore. You love making my life miserable too much to ever kill me. It gives you a reason to exist, and it helps to distract you from what's going on in your head, doesn't it?" Eleven asked.

"What do you know about what goes on in my head?" the Master asked enraged.

"More than you might think that I do," Eleven said.

"Don't tell me that you finally believe that crock about the drums in his head? He just made that up to give himself an excuse for the terrible things that he's done. I'm sure that he really does believe that they exist, but that doesn't make it true," Three said.

"None of that matters right now. What does matter is that I know that you won't kill me. You might kill everyone else in the universe but never me. So what is this really about? What's the real purpose here? It isn't to kill me, is it? No, you're keeping both of me and the soldiers outside distracted while something else is going on elsewhere in this base right under our noses. What is it then? What are you really up to?" the Doctor asked.

The Master began to laugh now as he looked at Eleven with an appreciative grin on his face. He nodded his approval at Eleven's observations.

"Very good, Doctor. Maybe you do get better with age after all. Unfortunately, you're never going to find out what I'm really here after. I'm going to keep you all here until it's much too late for you to stop it," the Master said.

"That's where you're wrong. You see I don't have to stop it. There are other people here besides just us after all," Eleven said.

"Do you mean your wretched companions? If they are still inside of the building, they don't stand a chance against my erstwhile partners. All that they can do is die if they go up against them," the Master said with a mocking laugh.

"Who are they, and what do they want?" the Brigadier demanded.

"I'm afraid that you'll never know, my dear Brigadier," the Master said.

Meanwhile, Clara, Jo, Mary, and Alex had demonstrated the usual luck of the Doctor's companions as they ran right into the middle of the Master's allies in action. They now were finding out firsthand just what this was all about.

Several of the Silence stood amid UNIT's files as they searched through all of them for any information that they contained on the Doctor. Clara gasped in surprise as she recognized the Silence immediately from past run-ins with them and knew that they were all in trouble now with neither the Doctor nor Rose there to back them up.

"Kill them!" one of the Silence shouted.

All of the Silence began to point at them, and electricity started to surround their fingertips as the four companions stood there not knowing what to do. Three of them already knew after all that the second that they ran that they would forget what they were running from so that was no option.

"Get away from them!" Rose shouted from behind them.

Clara breathed out a sigh of relief as she instantly felt safe now that Rose was there. She had no idea just what was going on here, but she knew that Rose would never let anything happen to them if she could help it.

Rose stood behind them holding her Vortex Screwdriver in front of her as she said, "If anyone makes a move on them, they're going to find out just what this can really do. Believe me when I say that I'm not in a forgiving mood right now after I found out what your leader did to my daughter."

"It doesn't matter what you do, Time Lord, you cannot stop us. We will prevent the silence from falling. To do that, we must destroy the Doctor. These files prove that he has received help from this organization and other Earth governments in the past just as he did from President Nixon in 1969. Therefore, we must cut the Doctor's allies off at the source. The Earth must fall in order to ensure our victory against the Doctor. The humans must not be allowed to help him any longer. We will leave the Doctor alone and defenseless with no allies to save him, and then we will finally finish him off once and for all," one of the Silence said.

"You had to come all of the way to UNIT in the 70's in order to find proof that the Doctor's received help from Earth in the past. Come on! You're all here for another reason than that. What are you really here for?" Rose asked.

"We will destroy UNIT here and now in its infancy," another of the Silence said as they held out a small glowing device in front of them.

"I see. You're here trying to change the future. You know that UNIT will back the Doctor up if you don't take care of them now," Rose said.

"The Doctor will be left alone and friendless at the end," the Silence all said together.

"Not a chance. That's never going to happen because I'm here," Rose said.

_So that's what this is all about. They're here to destroy UNIT in their heyday before they got so big._ Eleven said in Rose's mind as he heard this entire conversation through her.

_Who are these Silence? Why do they hate us so much?_ Three said as he tuned into their mental conversation as well.

_I don't know. I just know that they believe that we're going to bring about the end of the universe somehow. They're convinced that they have to kill us to prevent that, and they're willing to do that by any means necessary._ Eleven explained to his younger self.

_They can't be allowed to change history on such a scale. It could do massive damage to the timestream._ Three protested.

_They don't seem to care about that._ Rose explained.

_What kind of device are they using?_ Eleven asked.

_It looks like a souped-up version of a Dalekanium bomb. I think they're going to destroy UNIT HQ and blame it on the Daleks._ Rose guessed.

"That looks a little like a Dalekanium bomb," Jo said.

"You get bonus points for that one, Jo. It looks like that to me too," Rose agreed.

"What can Dalekanium do?" Clara asked, dreading the answer.

"It can blow up this entire base and take all of us with it. I saw someone use one once before," Jo said.

She was referring to a man from an alternate future who had used one to blow up an entire house filled with Daleks once in order to prevent a horrible future world ruled by the Daleks from coming into existence. Jo knew just how powerful these bombs were and just what they could do. She knew that these aliens would wind up killing them all if they weren't stopped now.

"Activate the explosive, or Silence Will Fall!" one of the Silence ordered the one with the bomb.

As soon as the Silence holding the bomb started to activate it, Rose triggered her Vortex Screwdriver. Time began to warp around the Silence as the Silence shouted the order to activate the bomb yet again, and the one holding it moved to activate it. Then the same thing happened again as a time loop formed around the Silence. The Silence then vanished from the timestream forever.

"What just happened?" Jo asked as she looked at the now empty space where the Silence had been moments ago in amazement.

"I've put them into a time loop. I decided to add this little setting to my screwdriver after my last run-in with the Fendahl. It makes it much more convenient when I have to stop someone from doing something devastating to the timestream. I don't want to use it except as a weapon of last resort though," Rose explained.

"It's like what the Doctor did to Axos then? He trapped them in a time loop too because they were threatening the Earth," Jo said.

"Yes, exactly. I don't like doing this though. It makes me feel like I've failed somehow to take away a being's entire future this way," Rose admitted.

"You're so much like the Doctor. No wonder he married you," Jo said with a nod as if she were giving her approval to her.

"Rose is the kindest person I've ever met. She even worries about the people who just tried to kill her," Clara said.

Mary could see the pain on Rose's face and was sympathetic to her. She couldn't imagine being forced to make such a choice herself. That must be a heavy burden on Rose's shoulders.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked Rose as he too saw the look on her face.

"Yeah. I will be. Thanks for asking though. You're going to be a great boyfriend to someone someday," Rose said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Alex smiled and from that moment on he never thought of Rose in any other way except as a friend. He was finally starting to grow up at last.

The Master could feel the time loop operating from inside of the conference room and realized that another Time Lord must be nearby. He was distracted just for a moment as he tried to reach out with his mind and find out just who they were. That moment of distraction was all that Three needed.

Three used his Venusian Aikido to deliver a devastating karate chop to the Master that instantly knocked him out cold. Eleven then tied him up quickly while Three raced to the communications system and began to use the sound of his sonic screwdriver along with his voice to dehypnotize the soldiers outside.

The soldiers came out of their hallucinatory state and looked around them in confusion as the Medusas disappeared from in front of them. Their fellow soldiers who had been frozen started moving again as well.

Rose opened up the doors to the base with her screwdriver, and the soldiers started flooding back inside again immediately as the Brigadier took back control of the base once more after Eleven opened the door to the conference room. Everything was over with now except for dealing with the Master.

This didn't prove to be a problem for long though as sometime during the confusion created by the massive influx of returning UNIT troops the Master had made his escape. Neither Three nor Eleven could say that they were very surprised by this. After all, the Master always escaped sooner or later. That was just what he did.

Rose finally arrived along with the companions, and it was finally time for them to say good bye to the past now. Three smiled at Rose as she walked up to him to say her final good bye to him.

"I'm sorry that I can't stay any longer. I love seeing your past especially these days. I know that you spent some of your happier times here and that you loved the people here like the Brigadier and Jo. It was great to actually get to be here to experience one of those adventures with you," Rose said.

"You're welcome to come back anytime, Arkytior. I'm sure that Jo would love to see you again too," Three said.

"I certainly would. I think that the two of you were positively made for each other, Doctor," Jo said.

"Yes, I always did too from the moment I met her," Three said.

"I was pounding the tar out of you that day if you'll remember," Rose said laughing.

"Yes, but I never felt a thing. I was too busy wondering how I could get you to be my friend," Eleven admitted with a devilish grin.

"Well, good bye then, Mr. Tweed," Three said with a smirk.

"Good bye, Fancy Pants," Eleven said with a smile of triumph.

"Doctor," Rose said in a disapproving tone as she looked at both of them.

"I'll see you around then," Eleven said in a more civil tone.

"Yes, quite. I think that you should pay a visit to your tailor though before then," Three said.

"Rose, did you hear what he said?" Eleven pouted.

Rose stared at Three for a moment with anger until he finally said, "Sorry. I couldn't resist."

Rose smiled then as she gave him a short peck on the lips and said, "I know. It just wouldn't be you if you didn't."

"You always take past me's side in an argument. It's not fair!" Eleven as he continued to pout.

"Will you stop being jealous of yourself, Doctor? You've got me already," Rose said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Why does he get a kiss though, and I don't?" Eleven said still pouting.

Rose kissed him for several minutes, and his face broke into a large smile. He didn't speak again for some time afterwards.

"Good bye, Doctor, Jo. Maybe I'll come back sometime," Rose said as she turned to leave.

"I look forward to it. Just don't bring him next time," Three insisted.

Rose shook her head and sighed without saying a word. She would never understand how the same man could be so jealous of himself.

Eleven, Rose, and their companions got back into their TARDIS and left as it dematerialized. Three then gathered the Brigadier and Jo together again and hypnotized them into forgetting that they ever saw Eleven, Rose, and the others. They didn't need to tell him anything about his future by mistake after all. He did leave a password in their minds though that would allow them to remember this day again though if the Doctor mentioned it just in case that Rose ever came back.

Three then regretfully blocked his own memories of Rose and Eleven's presence this day. At least he knew that if Rose ever returned that his memories of her would as well, and that made him feel better about it.

There was one lasting effect of this day that wasn't erased, however. This event inspired the Brigadier to propose to the United Nations a special act to be enacted that would give control of the world over to one extraordinarily noteworthy and trusted person in case of an alien attack on all of the world's governments that incapacitated them. The Silence had unwittingly created one of the greatest tools against themselves, and it would be used against them one day in the future when Silence finally fell over the Earth.

The Master was actually glad that he had lost for once. He would have been killed too in the explosion of the UNIT base. That was a fact that the Silence had neglected to mention to him. They had only told him that he would be helping them to destroy UNIT. He would remember the Silence's treachery here today and would make sure that he paid them back for it sometime. Nobody crossed him in such a way and lived to tell about it.

As the Doctor and Rose stood together in the Console Room, the Doctor finally asked Rose a question that had been on his mind all day.

"Rose, how do you think that I'd look with a beard?"

**Next: My final Silence storyline and my own version of Trenzalore continue here next time from my other titles as one of the Doctor's greatest enemies begins to rewrite his entire timeline. Can anyone stop them, or will silence finally fall at last just as the Silence always feared?**


	13. Cassiopeia Reborn

CHAPTER 13

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

**This story continues from Jenny Tyler, Time's Angel Chapter 44.**

Trenzalore Part 4

Cassiopeia Reborn

"Cassiopeia?" Rose asked in an unbelieving voice as she ran to hug Marina.

"I'm sorry, Mum. I couldn't tell you because you had forgotten me thanks to Kovarian. I had to keep posing as Marina in order to keep the timestream from unraveling. It kind of seems like a moot point now though, doesn't it?" Marina said.

"It's so funny. I loved you so much already, and I didn't even know who you were. I guess deep down I knew, Cassiopeia. In my heart, I knew that you were my daughter somehow. You never felt like a stranger to me even when we first met, and I never could understand why. Now I know," Rose said as she held Marina to her tightly.

"There were so many times that I wanted to tell you. I wanted to stop pretending to be a little girl and act my real age. It was so frustrating. I don't know how I didn't keep from going insane. Having to go to school again was enough to drive me nuts all by itself," Marina said with a warm smile.

Rose started trying to fade again and Marina said in a worried voice, "Hold on, Mum. Things will get better I promise. Just hold on and don't let go. Fight it, please."

"I am. I'm fighting it with everything that I have, but I was badly weakened by the Vortex Destroyer. It's keeping me from doing much to help myself," Rose said.

"Let me help you then," Marina said as she began to glow with Vortex energy.

Marina restored her mother's connection to the Vortex back to full strength, and Rose suddenly felt better than she had in a long time. She could still feel the pull of the changes to the timeline trying to rewrite her life, but she was able to resist it much more easily now. She spread her power to Jenny, Cassie, the Doctor, and Donald so that they could resist better as well. All of them became more solid now as she added her strength to theirs.

"Marina, I mean Cassiopeia, I - ," Rose started to say before she was cut off by Marina.

"My name is Marina now, Mum. Cassiopeia is gone. She did terrible things, and it's better that she be forgotten. I'm Marina from now on. I've decided to start over and try to be a better person since I regenerated," Marina said as she interrupted her.

"You didn't do anything, sweetheart. Kovarian made you do what you did. It wasn't you. I don't want to forget who you really are. I was made to do that for long enough. You're my Cassiopeia, and I want to keep you that way," Rose said.

"I'll always be your daughter. I just don't want to be known by that name anymore. Don't you understand?" Marina asked.

"I think I do. I am calling myself Rose instead of Arkytior now because I feel as if I've become a different person from the one that I was before. If anyone would understand, I would," Rose said.

"Good. I suppose you and Dad have a lot of questions for me, huh?" Marina asked.

"You could say that," the Doctor said weakly.

"I'll try to explain what happened after I entered the timeline the best that I can. It's probably going to take a while though," Marina said.

"At the moment, I'm too weak to go anywhere unless and until my timeline stops being messed around with so I'm a captive audience, Marina. Go ahead," the Doctor said.

Meanwhile back in the past, Cassiopeia was experiencing what Marina started to tell her parents about firsthand. She arrived in what she knew immediately was Gallifrey back in the past. She somehow knew instinctively that she was in her father's past.

"Cassiopeia?" a familiar voice called out to her.

She saw a woman who looked just like Clara and sighed in relief. At least someone here would know her.

"Clara, I'm so glad to see you," Cassiopeia said as she tried to walk to her and then she fell over in pain.

Cydonia caught her and kept her from hurting herself any further as she said, "Take it easy. You're about to regenerate soon. Then you'll be as good as new. By the way, it's Cydonia in this life, Cassiopeia. You'll have to get used to calling me that if you're going to stay here."

"Maybe I won't have to stay here. I do have the power of the Vortex after all. Maybe I could hop through Dad's timeline to where I'm needed if I can find out where that is," Cassiopeia said in a weakening voice.

"Don't worry about that right now. You're going to regenerate soon, and you're going to need to rest after that. Come on, let me take you to my house," Cydonia said.

"Why are you named Cydonia?" Cassiopeia asked as Cydonia helped her walk.

"It's what my mother called me. I had no say in it," Cydonia said.

"What?" Cassiopeia asked in shock.

"I was born a Time Lady in this life, Cassiopeia. I have a completely different life from what I had on Earth when I was Clara. I still remember being Clara though. I remember everything that she did. It's like it was someone else's life most of the time but I still remember," Cydonia explained.

"That must be very weird. I can take you with me when I leave here though and fix everything. I can bring you home," Cassiopeia offered.

"I am home. This is where I'm supposed to be," Cydonia said.

"What about Clara?" Cassiopeia asked as she started to get upset. She hadn't known Clara long, but she had liked her.

"She's lost in the Doctor's timeline. I and my other selves are all that is left of her. None of us are really her. We're just fragments of her," Cydonia said.

"You can feel your other selves?" Cassiopeia asked.

"Yes. I can feel them. Sometimes when I concentrate enough, I can even communicate with them for brief moments. There are so many of us scattered all through the Doctor's lives throughout time and space so that we can be there at key moments to protect him. The rest of me are named Clara. Most of them are human but some aren't. I'm the only one who is a Time Lady with a different name. I guess Clara wasn't a very common name back on Gallifrey in the old days," Cydonia said with a chuckle.

"Why didn't I splinter too? There's only one of me," Cassiopeia asked.

"You're wearing a ring. I remember Davros saying that the ring would protect its wearer from the effects of the changes to time. It must have protected both you and him from being splintered. Lucky you!" Cydonia said sadly.

"I'll find some way of saving you, Clara. I promise," Cassiopeia said as she tried to fight back tears.

"Just concentrate on saving yourself for the moment, Cassiopeia. You're about to regenerate soon. Good. We're home. Come on inside. It's just me here so you don't have to worry about being around anyone that you don't know," Cydonia said as she brought Cassiopeia inside of her house.

"Clara, I don't feel so good right now. I think it's starting. I've never regenerated before. What's it like?" Cassiopeia asked in a scared voice.

"I don't know. I'm still pretty young. I've never done it either. I suspect I never will. Some of my lives have died young. I can sense that. This one probably will too," Cydonia said.

"Don't say that," Cassiopeia said as she became even more upset.

'I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't meant to upset you any more than you already are. I'm sure that it's going to be alright. Just stay strong and fight when the time comes. Hold on," Cydonia told her.

"I will. I have to. I promised myself that I would save you and my Dad when I came in here after you," Cassiopeia said.

"Don't worry about me. Just save him," Cydonia said.

"I will save you too. I swear it. I'm going to save everyone. I'm through with standing around while the people I care about are being threatened and having their lives torn apart. I'm going to try to be more of a hero in my next incarnation, Clara. I promise you that," Cassiopeia said as her hands started to glow.

"I can certainly believe that, Cassiopeia. You're already very brave," Cydonia said.

"So are you. Going through all of this to save my father is the utmost in bravery," Cassiopeia said as the glow began to surround her entire body now.

"I have to. He's my friend. My best friend," Cydonia said.

"Now you sound like the Clara I know again," Cassiopeia said as she began to glow like a star now.

"That's one thing that will never change no matter what I am or who I become. The Doctor will always be my friend, and I will do my best to help him," Cydonia said.

"Thank you, Clara. Thank you for everything," Cassiopeia said as she began to regenerate at last.

Energy poured out of her hands and head as she began to change. She screamed as it felt as if her body was being turned inside out. She could feel everything about her, everything that made her who she was, changing.

In some ways that was a good thing since she no longer wanted to be the person that she used to be anymore. In others way though, it was extremely frightening. She wondered if she really was dying, and someone else was taking her place. She hoped not because she really had wanted a chance to prove herself and to make up for what she had done.

Then all of her worries ended as incredible pain like she had never felt before in her life poured through every part of her. Then, seconds later, she stood up on new legs and looked down at herself in amazement. She looked totally different.

For starters, she was much shorter. She could tell that she was a child again. She also knew that her new body looked oddly familiar to her for some reason that she couldn't place just yet.

"Why?" she asked in her new much younger voice.

"Probably because you were thinking that you wanted a second chance. It subconsciously influenced your choice I think. Now you're getting your second chance. You're a kid again. You could make yourself older if you want," Cydonia said as she looked at Cassiopeia oddly now.

"No. I think I'll stay this way. I think that I was supposed to become a child again. I know why this body looks so familiar to me now. I'm Marina, aren't I?" Cassiopeia said as she looked at her new self in amazement.

"Yes. It's incredible but you are. It's just so weird. I thought that you were two different people. Marina acted so differently from you," Cydonia said as she continued to stare at her.

"Of course she did. I had to pretend to be a little girl. Now I'll have to learn what that's like. Let's hope that I can remember what it's like to be a kid," Cassiopeia said.

"Just rest for now, Cassiopeia. You're still not truly finished yet until your fifteen hours are up," Cydonia said.

"Alright. I can tell that I need to rest whether I want to or not. I'll drop over if I don't. I want you to start calling me Marina from now on, and I'll call you Cydonia. We might as well get used to it," Marina said.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure it's incredibly frustrating to you. It was terrible to me to have to be a child again, and I know that it was for my other selves as well," Cydonia said.

"I'll get over it. For now, I have to find out why I came here. I must have come here for a reason. Dad must be in danger from Davros, the Psionic Dalek, or both. Have you seen anything unusual? Does he seem to be in any danger from anything?" Marina asked.

"No more than usual. You know him," Cydonia said with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess that was a pretty stupid question. I'm sure that he must be in some kind of danger soon though, or why else would I be here at this particular time?" Marina said.

"Well there was some danger a while back. In an attempt to change the timeline from what it was before, Davros made sure that the Daleks found out that the Second Doctor was trying to build a time machine in H. G. Wells' house in order to get back to his TARDIS when he lost it. It wasn't too big of a deal though. The whole situation was resolved with minimal changes to the timeline. Then I felt the need to make sure that Arkytior and Theta got married since Ari's mother seemed determined to drive them apart. I don't think that Davros or the Psionic Dalek had anything to do with that, but it did seem as if Arkytior really needed my advice. If I hadn't intervened, you might not be here right now," Cydonia said with a grin.

"I certainly appreciate that, Clara. I mean Cydonia. Sorry, I still have to get used to that. I still have a feeling that something's about to happen here and now. Call it a Bad Wolf thing," Marina said as she slowly got up and started to leave.

"You may be right. However, you're going to sit right here a couple of hours at least until you're feeling better," Cydonia said sternly.

"Just because I look like I'm a child doesn't mean that I am one. You can't tell me what to do," Marina protested.

"I certainly can because I owe it to your father to take care of you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you and have it mess up the timeline even further. You are supposed to meet up with him and your mother again sometime in the future after all. Speaking of that, I need to find a way to get that armband off of you so that you can use your powers again. You also don't need to be giving off human life signs on Gallifrey in this time where they execute humans just for being here. While you're asleep, I'll be working on a way to do that; and I'll also make you a perception filter so that Theta won't recognize you when he sees you as Marina in the future," Cydonia pointed out.

"I completely forgot about the whole no humans rule. Thanks for stopping me from leaving. I guess I'm still not thinking too clearly after my regeneration," Marina said.

"No kidding. Just lie down for a while. I promise I won't let Davros create a major disruption to the timeline without letting you know about it first," Cydonia said with a giggle.

Cydonia led Marina to a bed; and as soon as she laid down on it, she instantly fell asleep. She had obviously been much more exhausted then she had admitted to her. As she watched her sleep, Cydonia was determined that at least Marina was going to get out of here and go back home even if she didn't.

As it turned out, Marina was right. Davros finally appeared soon after Marina woke up and brought a huge group of Daleks with him. Luckily, Cydonia managed to get Marina's armband to come off, and the two of them stopped him together.

This started a pattern that would persist throughout the Doctor's timeline. Marina would feel a pull to a certain time and place in the Doctor's history, and she would go there to always find another version of Clara waiting for her. Each Clara remembered Marina and what they had done together in her other lives. Marina soon came to see that all of the Claras shared a common consciousness. They were all Clara even if they were different in some ways from each other.

The two women gradually became closer and closer to one another as Marina jumped from one point on the timeline to another to stop each and every one of Davros' attempts to destroy the Doctor. They appeared once to help the First Doctor, Vicki, and Steven against a Dalek invasion of the planet Astra in Vicki's own time period. Another time they helped the Third Doctor and Jo Grant stop the Daleks from destroying the planet Peladon.

They joined forces again and again throughout time and space as they prevented Davros from undoing each of the Doctor's victories against the Daleks one at a time. Marina found herself involved behind the scenes preventing Davros from interfering during each and every battle that the Doctor had ever had against the Daleks throughout each and every one of his incarnations.

They met each version of the Doctor at least once and sometimes many times as they stopped one mad plan of Davros' after another to destroy him. Finally after what seemed like a lifetime of battling with Davros, Marina and Clara could sense that he was growing desperate. He seemed to be finally giving up on destroying the Doctor.

Marina could somehow sense that now Davros had turned his attention to accomplishing something else. She knew from his conversations with Sarah Jane and Cassie that there was something much more important to him or rather someone.

Therefore, she wasn't too surprised when he turned up at the same time that the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane, and Harry Sullivan did on Skaro back in the earliest days of the Daleks. This time Marina found Clara here in the form of a Kaled who had lived all of her life on Skaro. It was odd how Clara looked exactly the same every time no matter where she met her and always instantly remembered what the two of them had just done previously relative to Marina's own timeline.

"You know you really should rest a while, Marina. You just came from helping the other me stop Davros from killing Donna before she could become the DoctorDonna during that whole 27 planets incident. You may be a Time Lord, but you need to rest sometime. You're not invincible," Clara lectured her.

"And you're not my mother so stop acting like her," Marina said as she sighed and rolled her eyes at her.

"Someone has to take care of you. You're killing yourself. You've been going nonstop for who knows how long. Even I've lost track of everything that we've done together. You don't have to kill yourself to prove that you're a good person, Cassiopeia. You're one of the best people that I've ever known, and I'm proud to call you my friend," Clara said with her voice filled with emotion.

"Thank you. I feel the same way about you. Even though I barely knew you before, I liked you even then from the moment that I met you. Now though I can honestly say that you're my best friend. I'm so glad that I met you, Clara," Marina said as she hugged Clara tightly.

"Let's stop with the happy tears, Marina, and go stop Davros one more time. You know the drill. In this time, I managed to get a job working as one of the guards inside of his bunker. I can let you in with no problems. At least not until we come across Davros anyway. I think that I even know what he's going to change here, and for once it doesn't seem to have anything to do with the Doctor. His sister is still alive at this point in time," Clara said.

"He must be going to save her just like he told Cassie that he would. He's given up on killing Dad at last then and has settled on at least saving her. Maybe we should let him get away with this one," Marina said.

"I have to admit that I was kind of thinking that too. What would it hurt to let him change things this one time as long as that's all that he's going to change? We have to make sure of that first," Clara said.

"Agreed. Let's find his sister then and stick close to her. Maybe we can be sure of finding out what Davros is up to a lot quicker that way," Marina said.

The two of them entered Davros' bunker and soon found themselves running right into Mira – literally. They were just about to enter Davros' personal quarters, and Mira came out at the exact same time. Mira and Marina collided into one another, and it caused Mira to come crashing down on the ground right on her posterior while Marina went flying backwards and landed hard on her back.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! My daughter is always running ahead of me even though I tell her not to. I can never keep her under control," Clara said as she helped Mira up.

"It's okay. It's my fault. I should have been looking where I was going. Are you okay, sweetie?" Mira asked Marina with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think," Marina said as she rubbed her back tenderly.

"Why don't I take you to the med bay and let my brother's doctor look at you just to make sure," Mira said.

"That's not necessary. I'm sure that she's fine," Clara said nervously.

They didn't need to be delayed. Who knew when Davros would show up? He may not be here just to save his sister, and they had to stop him if that proved to be the case.

"I insist. I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to your daughter. Come on, sweetie. Let's go see the doctor," Mira said in a gentle voice to Marina.

"I don't like doctors. I'm okay. I don't need to see one. Honest," Marina said in her childlike manner that she always adopted whenever she had to interact with other people who thought that she was a real child.

"We'll just let the doctor be the judge of that, okay?" Mira said.

Marina found herself liking Mira despite her pushiness. She couldn't believe that this woman was Davros' sister. She was way too nice.

Luckily or unluckily depending on how you look at it, the past Davros who belonged in this time suddenly appeared. He seemed to be very busy and barely even looked at Mira as he passed by her.

"Hello, Mira," Davros said in a barely interested voice as he moved on past in his chair.

"Davros, can't you spare me more time than that? I've barely seen you in the past few weeks. All you do is work on that new project of yours," Mira said in a hurt voice.

"It's very important, Mira. It will ensure the survival of the Kaleds and end this war," Davros said in a gentler voice as he turned back to look at her.

"More important than me?" Mira said.

"No, of course not. I'm so close to finishing though. I just need to finish up the final stages of my work, and then my next project will be complete. I will ensure the future of Skaro at last," Davros said.

"Can't you just spend a little time with me? Just a few minutes? There's something that I need to tell you in private. It may change your mind about this war," Mira said in an urgent voice.

"Whatever it is can wait," Davros said as he continued on.

"Jerk," Marina said automatically without thinking about it.

Mira gave her an angry look for a minute, and this caused Marina to say, "I'm sorry. I just didn't like the way that he talked to you. It was rude."

Mira's expression changed to a smile as she said, "Yeah, he is sometimes. He's had a hard life though in the last few years. He got into an accident that made him into what he is now. People scorn him and make fun of him. It's not fair. He sacrificed everything for this war, and that's how he gets repaid. It's made him into a bitter angry man who's mad at the world. I'm trying to change that though. I wanted to tell him that I have contacted someone in the Thal camp. They're willing to consider peace if they can get a cease fire and a neutral meeting place to hold a peace conference for a day. I can't get him to listen though. He's become obsessed with ending the war with this new project of his, whatever it is. I don't know why I'm telling you all of this."

"I just have one of those faces that everyone trusts I guess," Marina said with a warm smile.

Mira laughed as she said, "I guess so. Let's go on to see the doctor now."

"Wait. I really don't need to see one. I'm fine. See?" Marina said as she did a little bit of tap dancing to show that she was okay.

"Okay, okay. I'm convinced. Well, I guess I'll just let you two go on about your business then. I need to go see someone," Mira said.

Marina and Clara looked at each other and exchanged a brief look of wordless communication as they both silently agreed to follow Mira after what she had just told them. If Davros was going to save her, this might be the time. Ending the war now would keep Davros and his Daleks from being buried underground for so long after the Kaled Dome above Davros' bunker was destroyed. The Daleks being able to leave the bunker much earlier would certainly change history in the Daleks' favor.

They quietly followed the young woman as she left the Kaled Dome that protected the Kaleds from the attacks of their enemies, the Thals, and entered the wastelands between the two warring races. She continued walking on for several minutes until she met up with a man who was standing alone in the middle of the ruined landscape. Clara and Marina hid behind some rocks nearby as they watched the two of them walk closer and closer together.

That was when the present day Davros appeared at last. He suddenly appeared in between his sister and the man and blasted the man with energy from his hand. The man pulled out a gun and tried to blast Davros with it even as the Dalek creator was killing him, but he finally fell down dead before he could pull the trigger.

"He had a gun. He was going to kill me," Mira said in shock.

"He tricked you, Mira. He wasn't looking to discuss peace. He wanted to kidnap you to use you as leverage against me so that I would tell the Thals about my new project and give the secrets of it to them. Only you didn't give him a chance to kidnap you. You fought back, and he killed you. I found that out too late. If only I had let you talk to me when you wanted to. I could have stopped you from coming here," Davros said sadly.

"What are you talking about? I'm fine. You saved me," Mira said in confusion.

"Yes. I have now. Before though, you died. I've lived for centuries without you, Mira. I blamed myself for what happened to you. I shouldn't have ignored you earlier when you tried to tell me about this. You tried to end the war for me, didn't you?" Davros said.

"Yes. I wanted it done with so that I could help bring you back to your true self. You're becoming someone that I don't recognize anymore, Davros. I don't like that. The war has changed you. It's twisted you into someone else. I thought that if I could end the war that I could save you. Now it seems like you've wound up saving me from my own stupidity. I still don't know what you're talking about when you say that I died though. I'm still here," Mira said.

"I'm from the future, Mira. I came back in time to save your life," Davros said.

Mira looked at him closely and then realized at last that he looked much older than he had when she last saw him only minutes ago. She also saw that his arm wasn't just covered in a metal glove as she had originally thought when she first saw the future him. It was made out of metal to replace his original arm which he lost centuries after her death in the original timeline.

"It's true. You saved my life. Won't this change history though?" Mira asked.

"Perhaps so but only for the better. Now I must go elsewhere. I have other more pressing work to be done here this day. Do not tell the other me about seeing me here. He must not know anything about his own future," Davros said.

"You're not going anywhere else today. I allowed you to save your sister but that's it," Marina said as she and Clara stepped out from behind the rocks.

"So we clash yet again. I grow tired of this. You've blocked or undone every effort of mine to kill the Doctor. This time, however, I will stop you. I can still undo the Doctor's every victory here and now if I can keep the tape full of information about all of the future battles of the Daleks that my past self will force the Doctor to make soon from being destroyed later on. If my Daleks can gain access to that tape, then they can change their entire history in one fell swoop. I can still accomplish my goal of undoing all of the Doctor's victories here and now. This is my final chance, and I will not let you stop me now when I'm so close to winning," Davros said.

"What's happened to you? You're so cold now. So full of hate and anger. Is this because I died?" Mira asked.

She was too shocked by Davros' behavior to fully register that Marina wasn't acting anything like the innocent little girl that she had pretended to be earlier. She was much more concerned with her brother at the moment.

"Yes. Your death was the final straw. I no longer cared about anything but my Daleks at that point," Davros admitted.

"I'm sorry. I can change that now though. You could be different. I can make it so that you don't become this," Mira said.

"No, I want to be this. I saved you so that you and I could be together again in the new world that my Daleks will create in the ashes of this diseased universe," Davros said.

"You want to destroy the universe?" Mira asked in complete astonishment.

"Why not? It's done nothing but try its best to destroy me. I'm merely repaying the favor in kind," Davros said with no emotion on his face.

"What's happened to you?" Mira repeated again in a numb voice.

"He's become the worst mass murderer in history with a roll call of deaths that can be laid at his door that would stretch from one end of the universe to another if you listed them all. He created the Daleks, the worst killers in history," Marina said.

"Is that your secret project? The one that you've been so obsessed with? You created yet another way to cause even more death!" Mira shouted in anger.

"You don't understand. The Kaleds had to survive, and they did so through becoming the Daleks. My Daleks are the future of our people," Davros said.

"You're sick, Davros. Your mind has become unhinged by what happened to you and me. I can help you though. I can make you better," Mira said.

"I don't want to be better. I'm fine the way that I am," Davros protested.

"Listen to me. Stop all of this. Stop trying to kill everyone and listen to me. This isn't you. I've known you my entire life, and I know that this is not who you're supposed to be," Mira said.

Clara and Marina realized with amazement that Davros was giving into her from the look on his face. Maybe they could finally stop him here and now and end all of this. Then they could both go home at last.

It was not meant to be of course. They should have known that it would never be that easy.

The Psionic Dalek appeared out of nowhere as he said, "SO YOU'RE GIVING IN AGAIN I SEE. JACQUELINE ALMOST TALKED YOU OUT OF YOUR PLAN BEFORE UNTIL I PUT A STOP TO HER RANTINGS. NOW HERE YOU ARE AGAIN LOSING YOUR RESOLVE. I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU, DAVROS. IT SEEMS THAT YOU'RE NOT UP TO THE JOB OF CHANGING HISTORY. I'M GOING TO HAVE TO DO IT MYSELF. I DON'T REALLY CARE ABOUT HAVING THE DALEKS WIN ANYWAY. I JUST HOPED THAT MAYBE YOU WOULD PREVENT ROSE TYLER FROM BECOMING THE WHITE GUARDIAN SOMEHOW IF YOU CHANGED THE DOCTOR'S TIMELINE ENOUGH. IT SEEMS THOUGH THAT IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT THAT YOU JUST HAVE TO DO IT YOURSELF."

"How dare you?! I'll destroy you for your insolence! You obey me not the other way around!" Davros shouted.

"SO YOU THINK. ACTUALLY I'VE BEEN MANIPULATING YOU FOR SOME TIME NOW. I USED YOU TO GET TO TRENZALORE SO THAT I COULD BE FREE. I DIDN'T DO ALL OF THAT JUST TO WATCH YOU FAIL OVER AND OVER AGAIN. NOW I'M TAKING OVER THINGS. I'M GOING TO MAKE THE ONLY CHANGE THAT I CARE ABOUT. I'M GOING TO MAKE SURE THAT ROSE TYLER NEVER BECOMES THE WHITE GUARDIAN. OF COURSE, I HAVE TO KILL ALL OF YOU FIRST IN ORDER TO PREVENT YOU FROM STOPPING ME," the Psionic Dalek said.

He began to glow with dark energy, and then he blasted Davros with a burst of ebony energy that came out of his gun stalk. Davros crumpled in his chair and lay there unmoving as his sister screamed.

"DON'T WORRY! YOU'LL SOON BE JOINING HIM!" the Psionic Dalek said with an evil laugh.

"No, she won't," Marina said as she summoned up the power of the Vortex and blasted the Dalek with a bolt of golden energy.

The Psionic Dalek deflected the bolt with a force field made out of dark energy as he said, "YOU'RE JUST AS ANNOYING AS YOUR PARENTS."

"Thank you. I appreciate the compliment. Who are you anyway?" Marina asked as she prepared to launch another attack.

The Psionic Dalek replied in an angry voice as he said, "I AM THE ONE WHO IS GOING TO UNDO ALL OF YOUR MOTHER'S EFFORTS TO STOP ME WITH ONE SINGLE CHANGE TO HISTORY. I AM THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN TRAPPED BUT WILL SOON BE FREED. NO LONGER WILL I SPEND MY DAYS IN SERVITUDE TO THAT HORRID WOMAN. NO LONGER WILL I EVEN BE DENIED MY NAME. I AM NOT BILL! I AM THE BLACK GUARDIAN, AND I WILL BE FREE!"

**Next in this storyline: The final chapter to my Trenzalore story is in The Further Adventures of River Song Chapter 12. This ends the whole thing as we see the Black Guardian explain just what he's been up to lately as he attempts to make sure that Rose never became the White Guardian in order to free himself from Ishtar. Also we find out what becomes of Mira. Does Clara ever get back home? Things change for the Daleks. Davros and Cassie have a heart to heart talk. Oh, and the final fate of Madame Kovarian as something happens that will change River's life forever.**

**Next in this title: Elizabeth, Wilf, and Emmy return to the TARDIS at the same time as a mysterious young woman comes across the Doctor that seems to delight in making fun of him. Who is she? That's what will happen if everyone survives what's coming in River anyway. I really hope that they do. I'd hate to have to start writing a title called The Adventures of the Black Guardian. That would get boring really quick! **


	14. A Visitor from the Future

CHAPTER 14

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

A Visitor from the Future

The Doctor was sitting completely motionless in the Captain's Chair without making a sound. He was being completely quiet as he stared off into space lost in thought. Rose frowned as she watched him. The most hyperactive man child in the universe was being quiet and sitting still.

She knew immediately that something was wrong.

"Doctor, are you okay?" Rose asked.

"Sure, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be okay?" the Doctor said with a forced smile.

"Now I know something's wrong. You're giving me the 'I'm fine' speech. I've known you for hundreds of years, Doctor. I can see right through the 'I'm fine' speech. I could see through that back when I was human and didn't even remember who I really was. If it didn't fool me back then, it certainly isn't going to fool me now. Spill it, Doctor. What's bothering you?" Rose asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Lots of things! I just saw my own tomb. I saw the future TARDIS being destroyed. I almost lost Cassiopeia and Clara. Oh, and I just found out that Marina was Cassiopeia all along and my old friend Cydonia was a splintered piece of Clara. That just about covers it I think," the Doctor said as he put his head in his hands.

"Yeah, I know. All of that was pretty mind blowing, but everything's okay now. You're still alive and as far as we know you're going to be for a long time yet so don't worry about that. The TARDIS won't come to be on Trenzalore for many centuries yet I hope, and it was almost dead anyway because it started dying as soon as you did. As for Cassiopeia and Clara, they're both okay now. Marina's happy that we finally know who she is, and Clara's just happy to be home. Everything's fine now. Stop worrying about it, okay?" Rose said as she put her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry. I just can't stop thinking about it. I see the results of it all of the time now. Clara's not the same since she came back. She keeps staring at me funny and acts like she wants to say something but never does. What if she resents me for what she had to go through?" the Doctor said.

"Is that what it is? You're worried about Clara? Clara's fine. She's tough so she'll get over it," Rose reassured him.

The Doctor continued to look worried anyway, and Rose smiled at him.

"You're starting to make me jealous, Doctor. Is there something between you and Clara that I should know about?" Rose joked.

The Doctor looked at her in shock until he saw that she was just kidding. He sighed in relief as she said, "Don't even joke about that. You know that I don't feel that way about anyone but you. I love Clara, but I'm not in love with her. She's like a part of my family. I just don't want to lose her over this. I've become really close to her, and now she just seems so distant. It bothers me," the Doctor said.

"I'll talk to her if you want me to. For the record, I don't think that she's angry at you. I think that she's just upset and trying to process everything that's just happened to her just like you are," Rose said.

"I hope so," the Doctor said as he looked down at the ground.

Rose gave him a short kiss as she said in a gentle voice, "It'll be alright. Trust me."

The Doctor began to smile at her as she made him feel better just like she always did. No matter how bad his mood was she could always bring him out of it. She had been doing that all of his life since the day that he met her. Rose somehow always knew the right things to say or the right thing to do to cheer him up. Or maybe it was just her mere presence alone that did the job. He always thought that it was a combination of both of those himself.

Just then Elizabeth, Wilf, and Emmy suddenly appeared inside of the TARDIS via a Vortex Manipulator on Elizabeth's wrist. The Doctor sighed. Ordinarily he would love seeing them, well his mother and Wilf anyway, but not today. Today he just wasn't in the mood for it. He didn't want to see anyone.

"Hey, how are you doing today?" Elizabeth said as she hugged the Doctor tightly.

"I'm fine. Never better," the Doctor said.

"That's what I thought. You're all upset over seeing your own grave. It's okay. That's way, way into the future," Elizabeth said.

"She doesn't buy your 'I'm fine' speech either," Rose said with a giggle.

"I saw through that when he was two years old. He can never fool me," Elizabeth said.

"He just wants attention is what his problem is. He likes to be fussed over," Emmy said.

"That's not fair, Emmy. He just saw something that no one's supposed to see. That's got to affect someone," Wilf said.

"He's seen much worse things in his time, Dad. He'll get over it," Emmy said.

"You call him Dad now?" the Doctor asked in surprise.

"Yeah. What of it?" Emmy asked.

"Nothing. It's just that I didn't expect it that's all. I think it's great. I'm proud to have Wilf as a step-dad," the Doctor said as he smiled at Wilf warmly.

Rose was glad to finally see him begin to warm up and come out of his funk at last. It was a good thing that she had told Elizabeth about it after all it seemed.

The Doctor looked at the baby bulge in his mother's stomach now and patted it affectionately. He was slowly getting used to the idea of having another sibling soon. He almost looked forward to it now.

"How's the baby doing?" He asked his mother.

"She's fine. The doctors tell me that she's very healthy from what they can tell about her," Elizabeth said.

"She?" Rose asked with a smile.

"Yes. It's going to be a girl. You're going to have a little sister again," Elizabeth said to the Doctor.

"I have mixed feelings about that," the Doctor said as he looked at Emmy with a shudder.

"Why?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.

"We're going to have so much fun together working against you, Theta. I finally have an ally," Emmy said with an evil grin.

"That's why," the Doctor said with a groan.

"Stop that, Emmy. You know you love him and so will she," Elizabeth said.

"So what? That doesn't mean that we can't have fun torturing him every now and again. I'm his little sister. That's my job," Emmy said with a chuckle.

Then she saw the sad look on her brother's face and hugged him despite herself.

"I didn't mean to make you even more upset. I'm sorry. You know I love you," Emmy said in a softer voice.

"It's not you. It's everything lately. This has just all made me so depressed," the Doctor said in a voice filled with sadness.

"I'm sorry," Emmy said as she hugged him tightly.

"Thanks," the Doctor said as he hugged her back.

Elizabeth and Rose exchanged a look now as they both realized that the Doctor was much more depressed than they had thought. He was actually being nice to Emmy.

Rose's cell phone rang, and she smiled as she recognized Amy's voice on the other end. Somehow Cliodna always knew when the Doctor was upset.

"Rose, I have someone here who you'll want to see. He's been waiting a long time to see you again," Amy said.

"I'll come as soon as I can. Right now the Doctor's depressed, and I'm trying to help him. I can't seem to bring him out of it though. Do you think that you could come by and try to cheer him up," Rose asked.

"Believe me when I say that the person that I'm talking about may go a long way in helping. He certainly seemed to get along well with him before," Amy said.

"Now I'm burning with curiosity. Just tell me who it is," Rose said.

"You'll have to see it to believe it. Just come right away," Amy said.

As Rose hung up, she said, "Doctor, Amy said that she has someone that she wants me to meet, but she won't tell me who it is. I need to go see him whoever he is. I'll be back as soon as I can. Are you going to be alright while I'm gone?"

"Of course I am. Do you think I'm a child?" the Doctor said as he pouted.

"I won't answer that. You're already depressed enough," Rose said with a smile.

This prompted no reaction from him. He wasn't even playing their usual meaningless banter game. Now she was really worried about him.

"I'll be right back," Rose said softly as she kissed him goodbye and vanished in a burst of golden energy.

"You've got her worried to death. You know that right?" Elizabeth said as soon as Rose left.

"I know. I just can't help it. I don't want to worry anyone. I just can't seem to shake myself out of it this time," the Doctor said.

Wilf made his way to Clara's room. He knew that he shouldn't be sticking his nose into this, but he was worried about the Doctor too. He knew that Clara seemed to have become very close to him so he thought that maybe she could help.

He knocked on Clara's door, and she looked at him in surprise as she opened it. He knew that he was the last person that she had expected to see there.

"Hello. Do you remember me? I'm the Doctor's stepdad," Wilf said as smiled warmly at her.

"Yeah. I remember. It's nice to see you again," Clara said.

Wilf could see that Clara had a haunted look on her face even though she was trying to be nice to him. She looked even more depressed than the Doctor.

"Are you alright?" Wilf asked.

"I'm fine," Clara said unconvincingly.

"I was going to ask you to have a talk with the Doctor to cheer him up, but it seems like you could use a good talk yourself. You could talk with me about what's bothering you if you want," Wilf offered.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for offering though. That's very sweet. I'll be down there to speak to him in a minute. I don't know how much I'll help but I'll try," Clara said.

"Thank you," Wilf said as Clara shut the door.

As soon as Wilf returned, Elizabeth gave him a questioning glance as she knew what he had been up to without having to be told and he nodded. She smiled. Maybe Clara could help she thought to herself.

Before Clara could get there though, Rose returned with someone who looked exactly like the Doctor along with a blonde woman who looked very uncomfortable and never spoke. The Doctor instantly knew who the other Doctor was, but the others looked at the new arrival in shock.

"What's going on here?" Elizabeth asked as she looked at the exact duplicate of her son.

"This is a Ganger of the Doctor. He was made by the Flesh in the 22nd century. He's basically the Doctor in every way except he's not the original," Rose said.

"Yes! I have another Doctor to pick on!" Emmy said with glee.

"Arianrhod?" the Ganger Doctor asked with amazement.

"Hi. I bet you hoped that you'd never see me again," Emmy said with a grin.

Instead of nodding to that statement, the Ganger Doctor hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. Emmy was touched as she realized that the other Doctor felt exactly the same way but hid it from her most of the time.

Then the Ganger smiled as he saw Elizabeth and hugged her as well. He had thought that he would never see her again after he had sent her and the other Time Lords back into the Time Lock.

"I can't believe it. I have another son. Well the same son but still. It's just amazing," Elizabeth said as she looked at the Ganger in wonder.

"I'm so happy to see both of you again. Wait a minute. Are you putting on a little weight?" the Ganger asked Elizabeth.

"No, I'm pregnant," Elizabeth said with an angry look on her face.

"You could be eating the wrong things. Human food is very fattening," the Ganger insisted.

"I'm married to Wilf now, and this is our child," Elizabeth insisted as she began to fume.

"Oh, you're pregnant," the Ganger said finally getting it.

"You are just thick! I don't think I've ever seen anyone as thick as you in my life," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Yes, you have," Rose said with a smile.

"No, I don't think so," the Doctor responded with a confused look.

"You see them every time you look in the mirror," Rose said and the others began to laugh along with her.

"I'm not thick. I'm very perceptive. I notice everything in front of me with perfect clarity and accuracy," the Doctor said as he pouted.

"Ha!" Rose said.

"I notice everything. I'm the King of Perception. The Emperor of Awareness. I know all and see all," the Doctor said.

"Doctor?" Clara asked as she finally came into the Console Room and looked at the two identical looking Doctors standing together in shock.

"Not now," the Doctor said without looking at her.

"I tell you that I notice everything around me in minute detail. I'm a master at memorizing each and every detail of a room as soon as I walk into it. I have a photographic memory. I see everything, Rose," the Doctor said proudly.

Clara tapped the Doctor on the shoulder and he jumped in the air as he said, "Clara? Where did you come from? I never even saw you come in here."

"I thought you noticed everything," Rose said as everyone laughed at him again.

"Well, Clara's very quiet. She can be very sneaky when she wants to," the Doctor grumbled.

"Doctor, why are there two of you here?" Clara asked as she stared at the other Doctor.

"Oh, him? He's me except he isn't. He's just like me in every way though," the Doctor said.

"Thanks for clearing that up," Clara said with a grin as she shook her head at him.

"You're welcome," the Doctor said without realizing that she was still confused.

"I'm a Ganger. A clone of the original if you will. I am the Doctor but not the one that you know. And you are?" the Ganger asked.

"I'm Clara. Clara Oswald," Clara said as she held out her hand to him.

"You look so familiar to me. Have we met before?" the Ganger asked as he shook her hand.

"She's Cydonia except she isn't," the Doctor said.

As the Ganger looked at him in confusion, Rose said with a giggle, "You've been hanging around Idris too long I think."

"Cydonia was a part of me. I know everything that she knew," Clara said as she shocked the Doctor. She had never told him that.

"How?" the Ganger asked.

"I was splintered in time and space all along the Doctor's, I mean your, timeline. Cydonia was just one of the people that I became," Clara said with great sadness in her voice.

"Are you alright, Clara?" Rose asked as she noticed that Clara was shaking.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Clara said as she started to cry.

"No, you're not and neither am I," the Doctor said as he put his arms around her and embraced her.

"I'm sorry. I don't want to spoil the day for you, Theta," Clara said as she continued to cry.

"It's okay. I was in a bad mood anyway," the Doctor said as he tried to comfort her.

Rose looked at her with compassionate eyes as she said, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No. Not right now. Thank you for offering though," Clara said.

Elizabeth looked at the scene in front of her in amazement. It just showed what a special woman that Rose was. Her husband had his arms around another woman trying to comfort her, and she wasn't the slightest bit jealous or uncomfortable about it. In fact, she was trying to help.

She was so glad that Theta had met someone as special as her. She had loved Arkytior from the moment that she met her when Theta first brought her home as a little girl. She knew then and there that she was the one for him.

The Doctor was thinking much the same thing as he smiled at Rose. Rose was so busy trying to comfort Clara that jealously was the furthest thing from her mind at that moment and rightfully so. He had no such feelings for Clara at all. He thought of her more like a sister. She was a part of his family as far as he was concerned and apparently always had been since his earliest days.

He remembered being very close to Cydonia too in a similar way once upon a time. Only Arkytior, Cliodna, and Koschei had been closer to him than her.

_Thank you, Rose. _The Doctor said in her mind.

_For what?_ Rose asked.

_Just for being you._ The Doctor said in response.

Rose smiled at him in return but said nothing.

The Ganger looked on at the sight in guilt. He felt responsible for bringing Clara to tears. He was always saying something stupid it seemed.

The blonde woman who had come with the Ganger finally spoke up now as she said, "You didn't do anything. Stop beating yourself up, Doctor."

"You're very good at reading his moods," Rose commented.

"I should be. I've lived with him for two years. My name's Charlotte. Charlotte Avery," the woman said.

"Are you his girlfriend?" Elizabeth asked as she took a sudden interest in her now.

"No. We're just friends," Both Charlotte and the Ganger said at the same time as if they had rehearsed it.

"Okay," Elizabeth said in a skeptical voice as she knew that they were definitely more than that by the way that the Ganger was looking at her.

Knowing her son in any form as well as she knew him though she was sure that neither of them had admitted how they felt to the other yet. It seemed to be the Doctor's way to approach all relationships. Be totally oblivious and avoid your feelings until you can't ignore them any longer. He must have gotten that from his father. He certainly didn't get it from her.

"So you live together?" Clara asked Charlotte.

"Yes. I took him in when I found him wandering around by himself in a daze two years ago. He had memory problems and seemed to be confused," Charlotte explained.

"He was supposed to have died. How he's still alive at all is a mystery," the Doctor said as he looked at Rose suspiciously.

_I think I may have brought him back without knowing it. _Rose admitted to him through their link in that moment.

_Why am I not surprised? _The Doctor said with an amused grin on his face.

"I'm glad that he survived. He's my best friend," Charlotte admitted and then her face reddened in embarrassment as she realized what she had said.

"Thank you for taking care of him," Elizabeth said as she hugged Charlotte.

The Ganger smiled. He was happy that she had accepted him. He had been worried about her reaction as soon as Rose told him that she would be there.

"I can't believe that you're all alive," the Ganger said happily as he stared at Rose.

Clara started to smile for the first time that day as she saw the Doctor look at his Ganger with absolute jealousy after he noticed how he kept staring at Rose. She could always count on the Doctor's antics to cheer her up.

The Doctor cleared his throat loudly, and the Ganger saw the look of anger on his face as soon as he looked him. He realized now what he had been doing and gave him such a look of sorrow in response that the Doctor instantly felt bad for saying anything.

He knew that if it had been him that he would feel terrible too. He saw that the Ganger was just now realizing that he finally had Rose back in his life, but that he could never be with her in the same way ever again. He knew that thought would be killing him if he were in the Ganger's shoes.

Rose saw this too as she said, "I just want you to know that you can always come and visit me whenever you want. We can talk about anything you want to or just spend time with each other. We can do whatever you want to do."

"Sure, come by whenever," the Doctor said.

"Thank you," the Ganger said as he looked at both of them sadly.

_I'm so proud of you right now._ Rose said in the Doctor's mind.

The Doctor just looked at her with half a smile on his face and great sadness in his eyes. Rose realized with aggravation that the Ganger's sadness was just making his own mood worse.

Elizabeth realized this too as she said to Charlotte, "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't we get to know each other over a nice meal? I know a nice little restaurant on Ice World that we could go to."

"Ice World?" Charlotte asked while the Ganger looked at Elizabeth in surprise. He didn't know Ice World was anywhere around here.

"Let's all go there and talk," Elizabeth insisted as she took the Ganger and Charlotte to the ship with her, Wilf, and Emmy by using her Vortex Manipulator.

Now the Doctor, Rose, and Clara were left alone again, and Clara quickly excused herself. She just wanted to be by herself right now while she dealt with things.

"Clara, wait," the Doctor said.

"Yes?" Clara asked.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what happened," the Doctor apologized.

Clara looked at him in confusion as Rose said, "He thinks you blame him for what happened to you."

Clara shook her head emphatically as she said, "No, of course not. I did what I did of my own free will. I wanted to do it because I wanted to save you. I don't blame you in any way. I'm just trying to deal with all of these memories of all of these lives in my head now, but it's got nothing to do with you. I don't blame you for a thing, alright?"

She kissed him on the cheek then and hugged him tightly. She needed to show him that they were still okay.

Rose smiled as she saw that this was going a long way in making the Doctor feel better. He had become extremely attached to Clara and valued her friendship very highly.

"If you ever need to talk to me about anything, you can always come and find me," the Doctor said.

"Thanks. Maybe later but not right now," Clara said as she left to go back to her room.

"Does that make you feel any better?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, some. I'll be alright, Rose. Don't worry so much about me," the Doctor said as he smiled at her.

He wrapped his arms around her then and held her as they stood there in silence. He felt like he was drawing strength from her just by being around her. He already felt better just standing here with her like he was. The two of them began to kiss then, and he smiled as he could feel her love and concern for him in each kiss that she gave him.

This was cruelly interrupted by the sudden arrival of a strange brunette woman that he had never seen before. She just appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of the Console Room wearing a Time Ring on her arm.

"Who in the world are you?" the Doctor asked indignantly.

"Did I come at a bad time? Sorry. I'd heard that you were feeling all sorry for yourself and moping around like a little kid. It looks like you're doing just fine to me with your daily makeout session with Rose going on right on schedule," the woman said.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Rose asked.

"I'm a friend," the woman said with a mysterious grin.

"You don't sound like it the way that you're making fun of me," the Doctor said.

"I said that I was her friend not yours," the woman said with a chuckle.

Rose smiled. She liked her already, and now she thought that she knew who she was.

"Why are you bothering me for?" the Doctor asked.

"I just came here to cheer you up. I heard that you were being all whiny and depressing. In other words, just like your normal self," the woman said with a grin.

"This isn't cheering me up," the Doctor protested, but Rose noticed that he had a smile beginning to appear on his face now.

"Aw. Mr. Grumpy's all sad," the woman said in a childish voice.

The Doctor started to laugh now despite himself as he said, "Stop that."

"Why? Don't you like it when I talk like this?" the woman said in the same childish voice.

"Stop being so silly," the Doctor said as he laughed.

"No. I like being silly. Silly is my raison d'etre. Jenny's not the only one who likes to speak French you know?" the woman said.

"You can't tell me who you are, can you?" the Doctor asked as he guessed who she was now.

"No, Theta, I can't. I just want you to know that we get along just fine someday. I love you, Theta. I just wanted to come and cheer you up because I heard just how sad that you were on this day. I always like to see you happy and not all Oncoming Stormy. It's just my basic nature," the woman said.

"You're just like your dad," the Doctor said.

"I certainly am and proud of it. Do you feel any better now?" the woman asked.

"Yeah. Seeing you and knowing that we're going to be this close does make me feel better," the Doctor admitted.

"It also assures you that you're not going anywhere anytime soon, doesn't it? He's thinking that right now, Rose. He's been worried that he's going to die soon after since he went to Trenzalore. That's part of the reason for this funk that he's in," the woman informed Rose.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" Rose asked him in irritation.

"I didn't want to upset you or worry you," the Doctor admitted.

"Good job," Rose said sarcastically as she kissed him.

"Well, now my job here's done. I've got to go home now. Mum's going to skin me alive if she finds out that I've left without asking her. See you in the future, Theta," the woman said as she kissed his cheek.

She then vanished in front of their eyes.

"I think she's going to be a great addition to the family, Doctor," Rose said.

"Yeah she is. I'm sorry, Rose. I should have told you everything. I'm just a stupid, silly old man," the Doctor said.

"I know but you're my silly, stupid old man. You always will be no matter what mistakes you make," Rose reassured him as she kissed him.

Meanwhile in the future, the woman who had just been to see the Doctor and Rose reappeared in her mother's TARDIS to find her there waiting for her. She had a very angry look on her face.

"Kimberly Aurora Mott, where have you been?" Elizabeth asked in a furious voice.

"I went to comfort Theta. You said that he was very upset after Trenzalore. I thought why not go and help him? It turns out that I did help. I helped him a lot so I'm not sorry that I did it," Kim said defiantly.

Elizabeth began to smile as she said, "How did I ever wind up with such a sweet girl as you?"

"You're just lucky I guess," Kim said with a smile as she hugged her mother tightly.

**Next: Clara opens up to the Doctor about her issues at last after the Doctor and Rose decide to take her on a trip in order to cheer her up. Of course the place that they decide to go to turns out to be haunted! Or is it? Is the place full of ghosts or something else?**


	15. Ghosts of the Past

CHAPTER 15

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Ghosts of the Past

The Doctor was still waiting on Clara to come out of her room two hours after she would have usually gotten up. On a normal day, she would have gotten up bright and early. She would have come down to the Console Room all happy and chipper and ready to start the day. He never thought that he would miss that, but he would give almost anything to see a smile like that on her face now.

He finally grew tired of waiting on her to show and went down to her room. He lightly knocked on the door, and Clara answered with tears running down her face. He saw that she had gotten up and gotten ready because she was dressed, but apparently she had been so overcome with sadness that she couldn't leave the room.

The Doctor immediately wrapped his arms around her without thinking and embraced her tightly. She continued to cry on his shoulder as he held for a while without speaking.

"Clara, I can't let you go on like this. I don't like seeing you this way. If I have to, I'll erase all of those memories of your splintered selves from your mind. I don't want you to have to live the rest of your life like this. I love you too much to do that to you," the Doctor finally said.

"No! I don't want to forget them. I need to remember. They were all important, and they all lived for a reason even if they sometimes didn't know what that reason was for a long time. They all helped you in so many ways, and you never even knew it. They all wondered at one point or another if anyone would ever know what they did or even care. They wanted to be remembered, Doctor. That's why I can't ever forget them. I owe that to them," Clara said firmly.

"All of those lives and all of those memories in your mind are overwhelming you though. They're making you sick, Clara. I don't want anything to happen to you, and I know that they wouldn't either," the Doctor said.

"You're not wiping my memories and that's final," Clara said.

The Doctor looked at her with pure worry in his eyes, and she smiled back at him reassuringly. She kissed him on the cheek as she said, "I'll be okay in a few more days I'm sure, Theta."

"That's another thing that's worrying me. You keep calling me Theta half of the time now," the Doctor said.

"I used to call you Theta all of the time," Clara said.

"As Cydonia, not as Clara," the Doctor acknowledged.

"I was Cydonia, Theta. I remember the day that we held a surprise party for you to celebrate your wedding to Ari. Then you found out about her being pregnant with Cassiopeia and you fainted. That was classic!" Clara said as she started laughing.

"That wasn't you. That was Cydonia," the Doctor said as he looked at her with worry.

"I know that, Doctor. She was still me though, and I remember everything that she remembered," Clara said as she started to look sad again.

"You're shifting from one mood to another and from one persona to another at the drop of a hat, Clara. If you keep doing this, it's going to do something to your mind," The Doctor said in an extremely upset voice.

"I'm going to be alright. I promise," Clara said in a soft voice.

"It doesn't look like it to me," the Doctor said.

Rose came to Clara's doorway now and said, "He's right, Clara. If you don't recover from all of those memories and other selves in your mind soon, we're going to have to erase them from your mind. I really don't want to do that though because I can see how much they mean to you. How about we go somewhere on vacation, and we'll see if that cheers you up? Maybe you'll be alright if we do that."

"Maybe," Clara said reluctantly.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's go somewhere just for fun. No aliens, no monsters, and no troubles. Where would you like to go?" Rose said in a cheery voice.

"Well, I could visit someplace with a nice beach I suppose. I wouldn't mind some sunbathing or some swimming. I visited Space Florida once. Maybe we could go there," Clara said.

"I've never taken you to Space Florida," the Doctor said.

"No, but I was there at the same time as you and Amy were," Clara said.

"You mean another you was there," the Doctor said sighing.

"Yes, it wasn't the real me, but it was me all the same. Why is that so hard for you to understand, Theta?" Clara asked.

"How about we go to Ice World?" Rose offered.

"Oh, yes. I loved Ice World. I went there on the day that you first found Ace. That was when you almost fell to your death. I got there just in time to see you hanging on for dear life to your umbrella. I still don't know how you got into that situation," Clara said with a giggle.

"Stop it, Clara!" the Doctor said as he became even more upset.

"I'm going to take you to a nice hotel on the beach. That will be alright, won't it?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Thanks, Ari!" Clara said happily.

Rose looked at her uncomfortably but said nothing as she went down the corridor to the Console Room. She was going to give Clara a good trip somewhere that she hoped would take her mind off of things here. She picked a random seaside location in the early 21st century and started the TARDIS on its way there by entering the coordinates.

Clara was smiling now as she left her room and started toward the Console Room. She turned back to see the Doctor looking at her as if she was going to explode at any minute and laughed.

"I'm fine now, Doctor. Stop worrying about me," Clara said in an extremely good mood.

"I'll stop worrying about you when you stop going from one extreme to the other," the Doctor said.

"I think that I have stopped. I'll be fine now. Come along, Chin Boy," Clara said in the same manner as her old self would have.

The Doctor smiled a little at her calling him by that name. He usually hated it, but now he welcomed it. He hoped that it was a sign that she was getting better at last.

Then she stopped halfway to the Console Room and turned around. She walked up to him and gave him a quick hug as she said, "Thank you for worrying about me. I really appreciate it because it shows me how much you care. By the way, I love you too, Doctor."

The Doctor did nothing but smile at her in return as he tried to take the worry off of his face for her sake as they continued down the hall and entered the Console Room.

As soon as they had entered, the TARDIS landed and Rose greeted them by saying, "Welcome to the Rose and Crown Hotel. I have to admit that I picked it just for the name. It seems like a good place though. It's right on the sea and it looks nice. Come on, Clara. Let's go check it out. I hope that they have chips," Rose said.

"I hope that they do too, or we'll never hear the end of it, Rose," Clara said with a laugh as the two women exited the TARDIS together.

The Doctor was about to go out too when he heard Rose scream, "Doctor, Clara's collapsed!"

The Doctor ran outside to find Clara lying unconscious on the beach with Rose standing over her with an ashen look on her face. He then saw Rose start to glow with golden energy, and he knew that she was checking Clara's vital signs with her powers.

"Is she going to be alright?" the Doctor asked her once she stopped glowing.

"Yes. She's okay for now. Maybe a good rest is what she needs. I found something out when I was looking her over. She was faking, Doctor. She's still just as upset as ever, but she was trying to be her old self just to keep you from worrying about her. The whole emotional roller coaster took its toll on her though, and it made her pass out. I'm going to check us in. Once I have a room, you can take the TARDIS into it with you and her inside of it," Rose said as she snapped her fingers and put Clara back inside the Console Room.

The Doctor nodded and reentered the TARDIS as he waited for Rose's signal. He kissed Clara's forehead as she lay on the Captain's Chair fast asleep. He knew that he was going to have to take her memories now. There was just no other way around it. He was not going to let Clara die.

_Bring the TARDIS to Room 100. I paid for a suite with two beds. I told them that you two would come along later during the night and that Clara was your sister. That's true enough, isn't it?_ Rose said in his mind.

The Doctor brought the TARDIS to Room 100 and made it invisible just in case anyone suddenly entered the room. Rose helped him set Clara on one of the beds, and they sat on the other one together as they watched her sleep.

"We have to take her memories now while she's asleep," the Doctor said in a low voice.

"I'm not going to do that unless I have to," Rose said.

"I know that you want to respect her wishes, Rose, but saving her life is more important," the Doctor said.

"I'm not doing it, Doctor. Not unless I have no other choice. She's my friend, and I won't do something like that without her permission. I don't do that to anyone especially not to people that I care about," Rose said.

"I won't let her die!" the Doctor shouted in anger.

"Do you think that I want her to? I'm trying to do the right thing. She's okay for now. If she's in any actual danger, then I'll do it. Then and only then," Rose said in anger.

"Alright, I guess that will have to do for now," the Doctor said as he backed down.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment as Rose looked away from the Doctor with an angry look on her face. The Doctor knew that he had crossed the line in yelling at her and was immediately sorry for it as soon as he had done it.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said finally.

Rose smiled as she turned to look at him again. She kissed him without speaking to acknowledge that she had forgiven him. She knew that he had only done it because he was so worried about Clara.

They continued to talk in low voices for the next couple of hours while they watched television with the volume down so as not to disturb Clara. They were so caught up in their conversation with each other that neither of them noticed when Clara woke up.

Clara was disoriented at first and had no idea where she was until she saw the Doctor and Rose. Then she remembered that they had been going on a visit to a hotel and that she had passed out on the beach before she had even gotten inside. She knew now that the Doctor was right, and that she wasn't going to be fine unless something changed soon.

"Doctor, I don't want my memories taken away, but I might have to let you do that after all. I can't keep going on like this," Clara said out loud as she surprised them both.

"We'll give it one more day, okay? If you're not any better, then we'll suppress your memories. We won't erase them unless we have to," Rose said as she looked more at the Doctor than Clara.

The Doctor nodded as he agreed to these terms and so did Clara. Rose smiled as she finally had a plan that all three of them could agree to.

"Thank you, Rose!" Clara said.

"You're welcome. Now let's decide what we're going to do. How about tomorrow we go out on the beach and we can sunbath together?" Rose asked.

"Alright, that sounds like fun," Clara said as she tried to smile.

"It doesn't sound like fun to me. It sounds more like torture. I never understood why humans want to let themselves get burned especially when it hurts so much afterwards. Amy yelled in pain from her sunburns for days afterwards after we went to the beach. So did Sarah Jane. Romana at least had a full-sized bathing suit on so she didn't get burnt so badly," the Doctor said with a fond look on his face as he went back through his memories.

"I don't have to worry about that, Doctor. I don't get sunburn anymore since I became the Bad Wolf. My body absorbs the sunlight and prevents it from burning me. It converts it into energy instead. That means that I can stay out in the sun as long as I want and in the smallest bikini that I want too without having to worry about being baked like a lobster," Rose said as she smiled suggestively at the Doctor.

"I like the sound of that," the Doctor said with a huge grin.

"Lucky you but then again you can never get a tan again. That must be a little disappointing," Clara said.

"Who says I can't tan?" Rose said as her eyes glowed.

Clara looked at her in surprise as she saw her skin go from its regular look to completely tanned in seconds. Clara actually smiled a real smile for once as she shook her head at her friend. Rose was just full of surprises.

The Doctor felt the same way as he said, "You never cease to amaze me, Rose, even after hundreds of years."

"We've gone to the beach before since I became the Bad Wolf again. Didn't you ever notice that I didn't tan?" Rose asked in disbelief.

"No. I was too busy to notice I suppose," the Doctor admitted.

"Too busy doing what?" Rose asked.

"Admiring the scenery," the Doctor said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Shut up!" Rose said as she laughed at him.

Clara started to laugh now too. She was actually feeling better. She felt more like herself again than she had since Trenzalore. Maybe Rose was right, and this whole trip would make her better again. She certainly hoped so.

The Doctor and Rose looked at each other as Clara laughed. They gave each other a nod as they realized that their plan was working. They hoped that this would take Clara's mind off of the past and set it back firmly in the present in no time.

That night Clara stayed up late since she had already had a long rest in the daytime. The Doctor and Rose had gone into the TARDIS for the moment to fix the Helmic Regulator. It bothered her that she actually knew what that was now not to mention that she could have fixed it herself if she had wanted to.

Instead of focusing on her past again though, she was watching a cooking show and getting quite into it. It was when she was looking for a pen to write down a new recipe for soufflés from the show that she saw that someone else was in the room.

It was a little girl about eight years old. She just stared at her without speaking. Clara felt as if something was wrong about her somehow, but she talked to her anyway just to calm her nerves.

"Hello, sweetie. How did you get in here? Are you lost? Maybe I could help you find your mum and dad. What's your name?" Clara asked.

The little girl said nothing. She just continued to stare at Clara as if she was looking right through her.

"It's okay. I won't hurt you. What's your name, sweetie?" Clara asked as she began to feel nervous and on edge.

Then Clara screamed as she disappeared right in front of her. Clara ran to the spot where the girl had just been standing and found nothing there.

The Doctor and Rose came running out of the TARDIS and saw Clara standing there staring down at the floor in bewilderment. She looked at them with a terrified expression on her face, and both Time Lords were now very afraid that they were losing her.

"Either I just saw a ghost or I'm hallucinating. Please tell me that ghosts are real," Clara said.

The Doctor said, "Not in my experience. However, there are time fissures that can open up in certain areas, and people can wander into them and become trapped inside of them. This has led to many ghost stories as people see these lost people for a moment, and then they're gone. A time fissure is a . . ."

Clara interrupted him as she finished his sentence by saying, "It's a crack in time which occurs in one point in time and leads to another one. Cydonia went to the Academy too you know. Do you think that's what I saw? It was a little girl. Now I feel even worse thinking about her being trapped forever. Not as bad as I would feel if I was hallucinating because I'm going mad though. This happened to Donna, right? The knowledge of a Time Lord was too much for her human mind to take."

"Yes. I had to erase her memories of me," the Doctor said sadly.

Clara looked at him in sudden fear as he said that. She didn't want to lose her memories of the Doctor. She didn't want to go back to who she had been before she met him.

"That's not going to happen to you though, Clara. Not with me here," Rose reassured her as she saw her terrified reaction to this.

"It seems like that is what's happening to me though. I feel like the other versions of me are taking over my life more and more lately. I don't even know who I am anymore. I keep thinking of myself as one of them instead of as me. Now I might even be hallucinating thanks to them. They're making me into a nutter!" Clara shouted in fear and frustration.

The Doctor and Rose stared at each other for a moment as they realized that what Clara was describing sounded more like a mental link like the ones that Time Lords developed instead of just a case of a mind filled with too many memories for it to handle. The Doctor followed up on a hunch and scanned the room and Clara with his sonic screwdriver.

"I was wrong. Simply erasing your memories wouldn't have helped you because you're not like Donna at all. You seem to have some kind of psychic connection to your other selves. You know what they know, but you're not storing any of it in your mind. You just have access to it. It's not really the same situation at all. Seeing the girl proves that because there is a time fissure here. That's why you saw her. She must be inside of it or connected to it somehow. Your mind has been changed and expanded by what you went through. It's made you into a time sensitive as well as mentally linking you to your other lives. You can detect changes in time and notice things about it that others don't now. You've become more like a Time Lord," the Doctor said happily.

"Yay for me. Now I get to see things that other people can't so that I can convince people that I'm even more mad than I already am," Clara said.

"You're not mad. You just have heightened senses and access to all of the knowledge of your other lives. You're connecting to those other lives too much though, and they're overwhelming you. You have to learn how to shut them out. I can teach you how to block them out now that I know what the problem is," the Doctor said with a look of relief on his face.

The Doctor hugged Clara tightly and gave her a kiss on the cheek as he danced around the room in joy. He was so happy that he had finally figured out what was wrong with her at last.

Rose laughed at him. He really was just like a little boy sometimes. His behavior was endearing in its own way even though it also annoyed her to no end on occasion.

"You can help me?" Clara asked with a renewed look of hope on her face.

"Of course I can. If I can't, then I can find another Time Lord who can. You're going to be just fine, Clara," the Doctor said as he stopped spinning and beamed at her.

Clara began to smile again, and her sadness faded as she knew for the first time since Trenzalore that she was going to be okay. She could put up with the memories and the problems that they brought for the moment as long as she knew that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.

Then something occurred to her that put an end to her happy mood for the moment as she asked "What about the girl? If she's stuck in the fissure, can we help her?"

"I'm not sure. I can certainly try though. Or even better, Rose can," the Doctor said.

"I see that I have to do all of the dirty work just like usual," Rose joked as she began to glow with the power of the Vortex.

Rose felt for the other end of the fissure and found that it led to this same room a couple of years in the past. She could feel the little girl's presence there and realized that she was a time sensitive as well. When Clara had seen her, then she must have seen Clara too. They had both sensed each other through the fissure for a brief moment.

Rose sent a mental projection of herself through the fissure and found the girl crying on the same bed that Clara was on now. She realized that the girl had been just as traumatized by what she had seen as Clara had been.

"Hello. Are you okay?" Rose asked.

"Go away. You're not real. I'm seeing things again," the little girl said.

"You're not seeing anything. What you saw was my friend who's in this room in the future," Rose explained.

"I can see into the future?" the little girl asked in amazement.

"Sometimes, yes. You're sensitive to changes in time, and that means that you can see things that others can't. It doesn't mean that anything's wrong with you though. You're just special," Rose said gently.

"My mum thinks that I'm making it up when I see things. She tells me not to lie," the girl said.

"You're going to run into that all of your life I'm afraid. Now you know the truth though. If you're still having trouble when you grow up though, I want you to look up a friend of mine named Captain Jack Harkness. Tell him that Rose sent you. He'll help you," Rose said.

"What do I do until then?" the girl asked worried.

"Until then, I can block your abilities until you've grown up enough to handle them. Remember that this is only temporary. In a few years, it will wear off," Rose said as she placed the blocks in the little girl's mind.

"Thank you. Your name is Rose?" the little girl asked.

"Yes and you are?" Rose asked.

"My name's Penny. Penny Miller," the little girl said.

Rose looked at her in shock but said nothing. Penny became her companion in the future and married Jack. She had never displayed any time sensitive abilities before so her blocks must still be in place even now. Apparently she had forgotten all about this day when she grew up because she had never mentioned it. It would explain why Penny kept searching for her as hard as she did though after she had first met her and lost contact with her. Part of her remembered her from before.

It seemed that the Web of Time had a way of playing its own little jokes on Rose to let her know that even despite her power that she was not the master of it. It seemed like that it was the other way around instead a lot of times.

Rose said good bye to Penny and returned to the present. The Doctor saw the look on her face immediately and knew that something had happened.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked in concern.

"Is the girl okay?" Clara asked.

"She's going to be just fine. I know that for a fact. She was Penny," Rose said in disbelief.

"The universe likes to play its little games with us, doesn't it?" the Doctor said with a mad grin.

"It certainly seems to. I wonder if this might be an explanation for ghosts. One time sensitive person sees another one through a time fissure. Do you think that I just solved one of the world's greatest mysteries?" Rose asked.

"Possibly. I doubt that it's that simple though. Nothing ever is. Remind me to thank Penny the next time that I see her for her help in finding out what was wrong with Clara," the Doctor said.

"I don't think I'd go around her just yet. She still wants to kill you for what you said at the wedding," Rose said with a giggle.

"What did he do?" Clara asked with a grin on her face.

"Oh, wait till I tell you about this. You'll love it," Rose said already laughing.

As the two of them started to talk about the Doctor's notorious Best Man speech at Jack and Penny's wedding, the Doctor just smiled at them. Everything was back to normal. Even with the two of them making fun of him right in front of his face, he wouldn't have it any other way.

He had gotten his best friend back.

**Next: Ace and Polly return and join the Doctor's crew as the Doctor and Rose officially adopt Ace as their daughter. Also Pete shows up and meets his future wife, Mary, for the first time. It may not go like you think it will though.**


	16. The Future's Not Looking So Bright

CHAPTER 16

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

The Future's Not Looking So Bright After All

Clara was now back to being her usual happy and cheerful self after the Doctor had taught her how to block out her other lives and only make contact with them when she wanted to. In fact, she was even more happy and cheerful lately then she was usually. She came into the room with a plate of soufflé and handed it to the Doctor with a huge smile on her face.

"What's this for?" the Doctor asked.

"For helping me. Eat up. I don't make this much soufflé for just anyone you know," Clara said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek.

The Doctor smiled at her as he began to eat to please her. It tasted like cardboard to him. but he was determined to eat every bite because he wanted to keep Clara happy. He didn't want to see another sad look on her face for a long time. In fact if he never saw another sad look there that would be just fine with him.

Clara stared at him for a while as the smile on her face grew larger and larger. She was clearly amused by something. He had no idea what though.

"You hate it, don't you?" Clara finally asked.

"I despise it! The only thing worse than this is beans or bacon," the Doctor said as he shuddered at the thought of either of them being in his mouth again. He'd take Clara's Soufflé Surprise as horrible as it was over them any day.

"You don't have to eat it just to make me happy, Theta. I'm okay. You helped me, Doctor. Don't worry about me so much, alright," Clara said as she took the plate away from him.

"You're still calling me Theta though. That makes me worry," the Doctor said.

"I'm calling you that because I remember you by that name now. Like it or not, Doctor, we've been friends in one form or another all of your life. I'm just acknowledging that. We have more history together than I would have ever imagined before Trenzalore," Clara said.

"I do like that you were Cydonia. I always liked her long before I knew that she was you. So don't get me wrong. I just worry about you when you keep using my old name like that. I don't want anything to happen to you again, Clara," the Doctor said.

"Don't worry about it, Doctor. I'm fine now. I promise. Rose would tell you if I wasn't. She's checked my mind out several times now, and she's given me a clean bill of health. I'll see you later, okay? I'm going to go eat this. There's no sense in letting perfectly good soufflé go to waste," Clara said.

"Do you actually like that?" the Doctor asked as he stuck his tongue out at it.

"Yes, I do, Doctor. I think you'd like it too if you just gave it a chance. You just don't know what's good is your problem. You eat too much junk like jelly babies. Souffles are good for you. I need to make you eat healthier. Maybe I should give you carrot juice," Clara said.

"Have you been talking to Mel?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"Not in this life," Clara said with a mischievous grin on her face as she left the Console Room with a giggle.

Then the Doctor saw a familiar burst of golden energy appear in front of him, and he knew that Rose had returned at last. She had only been gone for a short time, but it had already seemed like an eternity.

The Doctor was surprised but very pleased to see that Rose came back from her trip to see River with not only Ace but Polly as well tagging along with her. He had wanted to travel with Polly again the moment that River had brought her onboard with Mary and Alex, but he hadn't been about to make her stay with him if she didn't really want to.

Now as he saw her with Rose, he was filled with joy that she had changed her mind. He had always had a fond spot in his hearts for Polly ever since she had helped him through his first regeneration. That had been a terrible and frightening experience for him since it was his first time, and he was alone with no other Time Lords around to help him through it. He wasn't sure if he would have survived it intact without her compassion and encouragement.

"Ace, Polly! I'm so glad to see both of you!" the Doctor said as he hugged both of them one after the other.

"It's good to see you too, Doctor. I should have come along with you in the first place when I first arrived here with the kids. I have to admit that I've missed both you and them. I'm going to love traveling with you again. It'll be just like old times I hope except for one thing. I don't make coffee anymore. Period! Got it?" Polly said firmly with a good natured grin on her face.

The Doctor remembered how when she had traveled with him before that she always seemed to wind up making coffee wherever they went and winced at that comment. He had probably been a little guilty of making her become the official coffee maker of the group himself but only because it just tasted so good when she made it.

"You've got it. No more coffee. How about you make me fish fingers and custard instead?" the Doctor joked and received a friendly swat on the arm and a laugh from Polly as a response.

"Rose said that I could call her Mum. She wants to be my mother," Ace suddenly said with a huge smile on her face.

"Of course I do. I have to admit that I was a little surprised that Dorothy felt that way about me. I've always cared a lot about her though since I first met her, and I have to admit that I've thought of her as another daughter for a long time now. I never realized that she felt the same way until she called me Mum. It didn't feel wrong at all for her to call me that, Doctor. It felt natural," Rose said with pure joy on her face.

The Doctor was a little taken back by this, but not entirely shocked. He had suspected for some time now that Ace had begun to think of Rose as a second mother, but he was never certain of that until now. Even after being around them for hundreds of years, it was still hard for the Doctor to completely understand humans sometimes.

"I'm glad to hear it, Ace. I know how happy it makes you to finally have a mother that wants you. I know that your birth mother throwing you out when you were so young hurt you deeply. You'll never get a better mother than Rose though. That opens up something else that I've been a little hesitant to talk to you about because I wasn't sure how you would feel about it. The subject of adoption," the Doctor said in a hesitant voice.

"What?" Ace asked as she was the one to be taken by surprise now.

"I've always thought of you as my daughter since the first time that we traveled together, Ace. Now that I know how you feel about Rose, I'd like to ask you if it would be okay if we adopted you. I'd like to make you an official member of our family, Ace. If that's alright with you," the Doctor said.

Ace looked at him with a dazed expression on her face for a long time, and then she began to have the biggest smile that he had ever seen on her face. She rushed forward and hugged him so tightly that he was afraid that she was going to crack a rib or two.

"Could I still call you Professor though? Calling you Dad would just be kind of weird. It's not that I don't think of you as a dad, but you'll always be the Professor to me," Ace said.

"That's fine, Ace. I have to admit that calling you anything other than Ace wouldn't feel right to me either," the Doctor said.

"So what happens next? Do I have to go to some fancy ceremony where I get sworn in as an official family member, and do I have to wear one of those horrible looking robes if I do? Please say no," Ace said with her nose scrunched up.

"No, Ace. Not unless you want to. That's not necessary. I'll just petition the High Council to make you a member of my House. I'm sure that they'll agree to it. I mean it's not without precedent. Andred married Leela after all and made her a member of his family, and she was human," the Doctor said.

"They'd better agree to it, or I'll have to have a few words with them," Rose said as her eyes glowed with golden energy for a moment in a threatening manner.

"There's no need for that, Rose. I'm sure that I can persuade them in a much less violent manner," the Doctor said.

"Who was talking about getting violent? I was talking about changing all their robes into ballerina outfits. Let's see anyone take them seriously dressed like that. What were you going to do?" Rose asked.

"I was going to send Donna and Amy to have a little talk with them. After half an hour of that, I'm sure they'll be glad to let me do whatever I want," the Doctor said with an evil grin.

"Now you know that you have to be careful with that, Doctor. You know that you must only pull out Donna and Amy in only the most extreme of emergencies. The combination of those two together could unravel the very fabric of the universe if we're not careful," Rose said in a completely serious voice at first that quickly turned into laughter at the end.

"Gran!" Mary screamed as she ran to hug Polly after seeing her standing in the Console Room.

Alex was less than happy to see her however. He loved her, but he was just getting used to not being watched all of the time and having his every decision scrutinized. He could only hope that his grandmother's time with River had helped to knock the overprotectiveness out of her.

"So how have you two been? Still getting into trouble, Alex?" Polly asked him.

"No, I'm good. I've actually managed to survive without constant supervision, and I'm still in one piece. Imagine that?" Alex said sarcastically.

"Message received, Alex, and I agree with you. I'll try to cut down on the smothering bit, okay? As for you, Mary, you're going to have to catch me up on what you've been up to since I left. I'm sure knowing the Doctor that you're probably full of stories guaranteed to turn my hair white . . . again," Polly said with a grin.

"That's not so, Polly. The kids were always safe. I always have a handle on every situation," the Doctor said confidently.

"Really? How about when we were all trapped sixty-five million years in the past and about to be destroyed along with the dinosaurs? Did you have a handle on that?" Rose reminded him with a smirk.

"Not at first, no, but we're all still here, aren't we?" the Doctor said with a nervous laugh as Polly began to give him a cold stare.

"How about when Eldrad took control of the kids and used them against us?" Rose said.

Polly began to give the Doctor the look of death now as he said, "They're okay now though. They're just fine."

"How about the time when the TARDIS was almost crushed like a tin can by Talos with you and the kids still in it?" Rose asked with a huge smile on her face at seeing the Doctor sweat.

"I had the entire situation under control the entire time. Stop naming adventures, Rose," the Doctor said as Polly's death look became a white hot glare filled with intense anger.

"You're right, Alex. If you can survive in one piece after all of that, then I can trust you in any situation," Polly said in a carefully controlled voice.

The Doctor knew that he was going to get an earful from Polly later when Mary and Alex weren't around. He looked at the smile on Rose's face as she watched him and knew that she was enjoying every moment of this.

_Thanks a lot, Rose!_ The Doctor said in Rose's mind.

_You're welcome. I'm always happy to help, Doctor. It's what I'm here for. _Rose replied as her grin became even wider.

The Doctor sighed but started to smile despite himself. He secretly loved it whenever she teased him like that. Not that he'd ever tell her that.

"It's fun getting the Professor in hot water, isn't it?" Ace whispered to Rose.

"Oh, yes, Dorothy. I never get tired of it. It always makes me feel better no matter how down I am. Whenever I'm as happy as I am now though, it's just like adding the cherry on top of a cake. It just makes the day complete," Rose said as she gave Ace a hug and kissed her forehead.

"Oi! Don't do that. You're embarrassing me. I'm not a little kid," Ace complained while actually enjoying it. She just couldn't actually admit that she enjoyed it, or everyone would think that she had lost her edge.

Rose, however, saw right through her and winked at her as she said, "Whatever you say, Dorothy."

The Doctor noticed for the first time now that Rose was calling Ace Dorothy. It seemed to have completely escaped his attention that she had been doing that ever since they had arrived.

The Doctor immediately asked Ace, "Since when do you let anyone call you Dorothy? You hate that name."

"It's okay if she does it. I don't mind it when it's coming from her. Only her though. If anyone else calls me that, I'll still give them a split lip," Ace said firmly.

"Now there's the Ace I know," the Doctor said as he smiled at her and laughed.

"Did you think that just because I have a Mum now that I'm going soft? Not a chance, Professor! Not a chance!" Ace said with an evil smile on her face.

"We wouldn't have you any other way, Ace. Believe me," Rose said.

The TARDIS landed in UNIT's parking lot as the Doctor waited for Jenny to arrive. They had already agreed to meet each other there while Rose had been away.

"What's going on? Is something wrong?" Rose asked after the Doctor explained this to her.

"No. Actually it sounds like something good for once. Jenny says that Pete came to visit her. She's bringing him to meet us," the Doctor said.

"Pete? As in our future son who hasn't even been born yet Pete? The one that I've only met before as a child?" Rose asked.

"Yeah, that's right. Only this is the older eighteen year old version. What's the matter? It's not like we've never met a child who hasn't been born yet before. I mean we've all done it. Even Polly and Mary have done it. It's the hip, happening thing to do now. Everybody's doing it. Meeting your future kids before they even exist is just the ultimate in cool," the Doctor said.

"I'm just nervous, Doctor. Believe it or not, I still get nervous whenever I start messing around with my own future. It's the human in me. I'm also nervous for Mary. This will be her first time meeting him. He is the one that she's supposed to wind up marrying in the future according to WOTAN and the Black Guardian. Not that I'd necessarily trust anything that those two told me, but it's probably the truth. What reason would they possibly have to lie about something like that?" Rose asked.

"Beings like that lie just crossing the street, Rose. It becomes second nature to them. I do agree that it's probably the truth though," the Doctor said.

Moments later, Jenny's TARDIS materialized in front of them, and she and Pete stepped out of it. Pete looked at the past versions of his parents with uncertainty for a moment. His mother looked exactly the same as she did in his time, but his Dad looked way too young. He had no idea what was going on with the bow tie either.

"Talk to them," Jenny said as she poked him in the back.

"Okay, okay! You're just as bossy in the past as you are in the future!" Pete complained.

"Hey, Mum, Dad. I guess this is a little weird for all of us, isn't it?" Pete said nervously.

"Yes, it is. Let's just try to get through it as quickly as we can though. I mean things like this happen every other day for people like us. It's not like its anything new," the Doctor said.

"Actually for me it is. I've never met a past or future version of anyone that I know before except for that time when I met you two when I was younger, but I barely remember that now," Pete admitted.

"What? How? You're a time traveler, aren't you?" the Doctor asked.

"Yeah but it's just never happened. I don't know why," Pete said.

"This isn't right. A son of mine who's only had something like that happen to them once just doesn't sound right. You must have been too overprotective of him, Rose. You must have kept him from exploring his full potential. That's just not cool, Rose. It's just not cool," the Doctor said as he shook his head at her.

"Why is that automatically my fault? Why is that even a bad thing for in the first place? That's a strange thing to be angry about, Doctor. Even for you," Rose said as she rolled her eyes at him.

"I guess you two really haven't changed that much," Pete said as he walked past them with a grin on his face at the sight of them fighting. He knew that they'd probably wind up making out in about five minutes so he wasn't too worried about it when they fought.

That was when Pete noticed Mary for the first time, and she got her first good look at him. The two of them locked eyes and just stared at each other without blinking for a moment. Each of them seemed to be mesmerized by the other. It was a perfect moment. It was the kind of thing that romance novels are made out of.

Too bad that Pete had to open his mouth and ruin it.

"Hey, what's your name, beautiful? If I'd known that you were the girl that Jenny was talking about, I would have broken my neck getting here. So where are we going on our first date?" Pete asked as he walked over to her and wrapped his arm around her possessively.

"What?" Mary asked as she immediately became filled with anger.

"You and I are just perfect for one another, babe. So why don't you just plant one on me?" Pete asked as he pointed at his lips.

Everyone in the room looked at him in shock. The Doctor began to silently wonder if maybe Pete had been switched at birth and was actually Jack's son instead. Even Jack wouldn't have hit on someone quite this openly or boldly though. He would have had more style.

"Get off of me!" Mary said as she pushed him away.

"Hey, hey! What is it? Did I do something wrong? I went too fast, didn't I? I do that sometimes. We'll wait and go on our first date later, okay? Whenever you feel like it," Pete said with a warm smile on his face.

"You never even asked me out, you arrogant prick! You just automatically assumed that I couldn't resist you. Oh and if you ever call me babe or put your arm around me like that again, I'll punch you into next week, got it?" Mary said in a furious voice.

Now everyone stared in shock at Mary. None of them had ever heard sweet, loving Mary talk that way to anyone before. It wasn't like Pete didn't deserve it though because even Rose and the Doctor agreed to themselves that he did.

"I think I'll be leaving right now. See you," Jenny said as she quickly got in her TARDIS and escaped before anyone could start yelling at her. She had no idea that he would act like that, and she didn't want to be blamed for it.

"Pete, I don't know what it is that we teach you in the future, but obviously knowing how to treat a woman wasn't taught well enough by either of us. It looks like I'm going to have to teach you a little harder," Rose said in a furious voice.

Then she dragged him away from Mary by pulling on his ear so hard that he yelped in pain. His mother was exactly the same in this time as she was in his own alright.

"I'm sorry, Mary. I didn't know that he was going to do that," the Doctor apologized.

"It's not your fault or Rose's. I know that you're both nice people. I'm sure that the fault lies entirely with him. I hate to speak badly of your son, Doctor, but I don't like him. I don't want him around me anymore. If he ever hits on me like that again, I'll punch his lights out! I'm sorry, Doctor. I don't mean to offend you or Rose. That's just the way that I feel," Mary said.

"I understand. He won't bother you anymore I promise you that," the Doctor said.

"Thank you!" Mary said with a disturbed look on her face.

"Hey, what do you mean upsetting Mary like that? She's a nice girl. She doesn't deserve that kind of treatment from you," Ace said to Pete after he entered the TARDIS to get away from both Mary and an extremely angry Rose who had just finished reading him the riot act.

"I wasn't doing anything. I was just trying to show her that I liked her," Pete admitted.

"That was definitely not the way to do it. All that did was turn her off and make her hate the sight of you," Ace said.

"I just don't know how to talk to women, okay? I don't know how to approach them. I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I just thought that was how you got a girl. I know everything else I've ever tried has failed miserably, and I've tried everything. I saw it work on an old movie once so I thought I'd try it. I guess it doesn't happen that way in real life though, huh?" Pete said as he shook with anxiety.

"You're talking to me," Ace pointed out.

"That's different. You're my big sister. I don't have to worry about being nervous around you. I just blew it, Dorothy. She's probably the perfect girl for me only I'll never know it because I just blew it," Pete said with his head in his hands.

Ace smiled as he unknowingly gave away their relationship in the future, and the fact that he was calling her Dorothy so openly let her know that he probably wasn't that bad of a guy. She wouldn't let just anyone call her that after all.

"Maybe I can help, Pete. I'll show you how to act around her the next time you see her," Ace said.

"It's no use, Dorothy. She already hates me," Pete said.

"It's okay. If you show her the real you after apologizing a lot and I mean a whole lot, I think that she just may be willing to give you another shot. Just show her the person that I'm seeing now, and don't try to put on some phony macho act for her, okay?" Ace said.

"Okay. Teach me what you can. I can't promise that I'll do any better with that than I did with the other approach though," Pete said sadly.

Rose silently closed the door to the TARDIS and smiled to herself. She had just watched the entire thing. It turned out that Pete wasn't so very different from his father after all. He was actually even more awkward than his father had been at that age if that were possible.

She decided to give Pete another chance. Maybe he might just wind up surprising them all yet. In a good way this time she hoped.

**Next: The Cybermen return and so does Talos. The Cyber-Planner and Nemesis also make their first appearance in this title fresh from their appearance in Oswin's title. It's quite a welcome back to Ace and Polly, huh? Oh and maybe someone else shows up briefly wearing a hood and a black cloak who has the initials BG.**


	17. Who Is the Cleverest One of Them All? 1

CHAPTER 17

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Who Is The Cleverest One Of Them All? Part One

Clara Oswald stood alone in the Console Room, but she wasn't really alone at all. She was even at that moment in mental communication with another Clara Oswald who was a part of herself who wouldn't even be born yet for another hundred years.

She had found that with practice she could talk to her other selves, and they could talk to her. It was very weird to talk to them at first, but then it became almost normal to her. It was almost like talking to someone that she had just met on the street. Only this someone was her.

"I still can't believe that you're the original me. I'm so glad that at least one of us got back home. It's just so weird being able to talk to you. What date did you say it was where you're talking to me from again?" the future Clara said out loud.

After Clara told her the date, the future Clara became alarmed as she said, "I thought that I remembered that date. I learned it in history class once. That's the date that the Cybermen attacked London."

"What? What happened? Maybe I could change things," Clara said.

"You know better than that from the Doctor. You're not supposed to know about the future," the future Clara reminded her.

"You just told me about it though," Clara protested.

"I know. I know. I shouldn't have done that though. I really didn't give you any details so maybe I haven't altered history too much," the future Clara said.

"Oh, come on! You can't just tell me that London's going to be invaded, and then not tell me any of the details. How would you like it if I did that to you?" Clara asked.

"I'm sorry. I just can't. I know how mad you are. Believe me. I know that better than anyone, but I just can't take a chance on changing my own past. You do understand that, don't you?" the future Clara asked.

"Fine! Be that way. See if I ever talk to you again!" Clara said as she shut off communications with that particular Clara. Perhaps for good.

"Clara, what's going on?" Mary asked her as she looked at her as if she had just lost her mind.

"I'm mad at myself. That's what's going on," Clara said as she fumed.

"Is that why you were talking to yourself?" Mary asked as she looked at her like she was worried about her.

"No, it's as a result of talking to myself. I just made myself so mad. I usually get along pretty well with myself but not this time. This time I was just being a real jerk to myself. I can tell you right now that I won't ever talk to that particular me ever again. The nerve of myself!" Clara said as she became all flustered and upset.

"Clara, you need to rest. You seem to be confused," Mary said with real concern in her voice now.

"What? Oh? No, I'm not mad, Mary. Well, I am mad, but not that kind of mad. Oh, my God! When did I start talking like Idris?! I've really been hanging around the Doctor way too long!" Clara said as she hit herself in the forehead in frustration.

"You certainly have. Now, you've even starting to act like him," Rose said as she walked into the Console Room with a huge grin on her face.

"Rose, Clara's sick," Mary said with worry.

"No, she's not. She's perfectly fine, Mary. She's developed the ability to talk to her splintered selves, and apparently she gets along with her other selves about as well as the Doctor does," Rose said with a chuckle.

"Oh, I see. So you're alright then. I'm so glad," Mary said as she sighed in relief.

"Well, I'm not exactly all right. I just found out that the Cybermen are going to invade London today, but my other self wouldn't tell me anything about it," Clara said.

The Doctor walked in then with a frown on his face as he said, "Clara, what did I tell you about trying to change the future? Why do you want to talk to your other selves for anyway? That's always a bad idea. Trust me!"

"Some of them aren't so bad. Up until now, I got along well with all of them that I met," Clara said.

"Well, that is true. Some of your other selves are alright, and you can actually grow to like them. I like my second incarnation for instance. He wears a bow tie so that makes him automatically cool. The less said about my last incarnation and Shouty though the better," the Doctor said with an angry look on his face.

"What's wrong with them? I happened to love them both. Then again, I'm biased," Rose said as she gave him a quick kiss.

The Doctor smiled despite his sudden bad mood as he said, "With Shouty, it's obvious. He yells all the time, whines a lot, and has a really bad fashion sense. Still, he did sacrifice himself for you though. So he's not all bad. Not like the Frenchman."

"The Frenchman? Is that what you're calling him now?" Rose asked with an amused look on her face.

"I might as well. All he did was speak French or Italian. It was always Allons-y this or Allons-y that! I can't stand him!" the Doctor said with an angry snarl on his face.

"What's the real reason that you're so angry at him?" Rose asked as she knew that he wasn't being completely honest with her.

"He took you back. He sent you away. I can never forgive him for that," the Doctor said in a sad voice.

Rose gave him a tender kiss then as she wrapped her arms around him in comfort. The two of them embraced in silence for a while until the Doctor began to smile again.

"I'm sorry, Rose. I just get upset every time that I think about it. I could have lost your forever," the Doctor finally said.

"That wasn't going to happen. I'm afraid I'm just too stubborn to let it. I always get what I want," Rose said.

"Yeah, you are pretty headstrong. It makes it hard to tell you anything," the Doctor joked.

Rose pretended to be angry as she said, "Do you want me to slap that bow tie off of you?"

The Doctor saw through this act, and he kissed her until she started to smile again.

"You always know how to lower my defenses," Rose admitted as they continued to kiss.

Clara and Mary smiled at them as both of them thought about how sweet both of them were together. Someone else had the opposite reaction though as they entered the room.

"Old people kissing! Ugh!" Alex said as he turned his head away at the sight.

"Tell me about it. It's kind of creepy. It turned me off even before they adopted me," Ace said.

Pete meanwhile said nothing. He just looked at Mary nervously. He began to sweat profusely as he started to become terrified.

"What's wrong?" Polly asked Pete in a low voice as she took him aside to a far off corner of the Console Room.

"Nothing," Pete lied as he looked away from her.

"Oh, really? Then why do you look like this then?" Polly said as she put her head in her hands and adopted a sad sorrowful expression. Only she did it in a comedic way that actually made Pete laugh.

"Do I look like that?" Pete asked as he started to feel more at ease.

"You look worse actually. I haven't seen a sad sack as bad as you in a long time! What's the problem? Is there anything that I can help you with?" Polly asked.

"I don't know, Aunt Polly. I just don't know. I don't think anyone can help me. It's Mary. Whenever I get around her, I get so nervous that I feel like I'm going to explode. Or at least throw up a lot," Pete admitted.

Polly smiled as he gave away a little clue about their relationship in the future and his feelings for her granddaughter all at the same time. So he was the one who she winded up marrying or at least he seemed to be the most likely candidate anyway she thought to herself.

"Why don't you just be yourself, and stop worrying so much?" Polly advised him.

"That's what I told him, but it doesn't seem to help. He's kind of hopeless," Ace said as she joined them.

Rose shook her head as she came up behind her while she said, "He's not hopeless. He just needs to gain confidence around women that's all. I can't imagine where he got his awkwardness around them from."

"Is that a crack against me?" the Doctor asked.

"If the shoe fits, Doctor," Rose said with a wicked grin.

"Well, it doesn't so stop it!" the Doctor said as he pouted.

"How long did it take you to ask Arkytior out again?" Clara reminded him.

"So, it's all Dad's fault?" Pete asked.

"No, that's not what I was trying to say," Rose said.

"I should hope not," the Doctor said as he continued to pout.

"I'm just saying that you got your awkwardness from him. It doesn't mean that you have to stay that way though. I think that we can help you. Maybe all of us can give you some tips," Rose said.

"It doesn't work, Mum. Nothing does," Pete said sadly.

Mary kept staring at the very large conversation that seemed to be happening around Pete on the other side of the room. She had no idea what it was about, but he looked so sad that her heart almost went out to him. She still remembered how he had acted before though, and that prevented her from going up to him to see if she could comfort him which was her natural impulse. She certainly didn't want more of that kind of treatment again.

"He's not that bad a guy really once you get to know him," Alex said.

"Maybe not to you, but he certainly was to me. I don't want anything to do with him," Mary said.

"Really? Is that why you look like you want to go over there and talk to him?" Alex asked.

"I'd like to know what he's so upset about, but I don't want to be treated like that anymore," Mary admitted.

"I think he was just acting like that because he was nervous around you," Alex said.

"Why? Why would anyone be nervous around me?" Mary asked in surprise.

Alex shook his head at how naïve she was as he said, "Why don't you ask him and find out?"

"I don't think so. I think I'll just stay over here where I won't get hit on," Mary said.

Alex noticed that she continued to look at Pete though. He wondered how long that it would be before she broke.

Clara meanwhile still had her own problem to deal with as she asked, "Doctor, what should I do? I know that the Cybermen are going to invade today. I can't just stand around and do nothing about it."

"I didn't say that we'd stand around and do nothing. The minute you told me about it, I started using the TARDIS to search for signs of Cybermen around the London area. If they're around, we'll find them," the Doctor said.

"Oswin told me recently that she ran up against the Mr. Clever that she knew back when she was me. He was still around somehow," Clara told him.

"That's not possible. That timeline was completely erased except for Oswin," Rose said in surprise.

"She said that he knew her, Rose. Meeting him caused her to remember everything about being the original me. She remembers everything now about being Clara in that other world. It's kind of weird," Clara said.

"It's not possible. He couldn't have survived having his timeline erased," the Doctor said with a worried look on his face.

"Not unless someone with great power helped him," Rose agreed.

"Bill's still with Ishtar though. Who else could it be?" the Doctor wondered.

"What about that woman in black though? The one who freed Kali and who the Valeyard called the Black Guardian? The one that Sarah Jane and Amy told us about," Rose asked.

"She's the same woman who Lily saw stealing Goth's mind too I'll bet," the Doctor said.

"I don't think that it's a coincidence that the original Mr. Clever returns at the same time as she suddenly makes her grand entrance. Whoever she is, she's already trouble, and we haven't even met her yet," Rose said.

The TARDIS suddenly started making a warning noise just before the grinning face of what looked like the Doctor himself appeared on the monitor. The Doctor looked at it with a huge frown as he realized immediately who it was.

"Speak of the Devil, and he shall appear," the Doctor said with a grumble.

"Thanks for the compliment, Doctor! I assume that you know who I am," Mr. Clever's holographic image said.

"Oh, yes. I know all about you. Except for how to make you go away. Now that secret I'd gladly give up one of my hats for. Not the fez though. They'll have to pry that out of my cold dead hands," the Doctor said.

"I'm sure that can be arranged, Doctor. I'm still not convinced that you know me though. Say my name," Mr. Clever said.

The Doctor however was silent and said nothing. He wasn't going to play along with this little game.

"Say my name!" Mr. Clever shouted as his grin quickly disappeared.

"Oh, it's going to be an ego trip, is it? All hail the mighty Mr. Clever, is that it?" the Doctor said as he sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I like that. Even you admit who I am now. I'm called Mr. Clever because I'm the cleverest being in the universe. I'm definitely much smarter than you," Mr. Clever said as his huge smile suddenly returned.

"You're called Mr. Clever because you're a machine that plays at being a man and who has an ego the size of Skaro. It's got nothing to do with how smart you are," the Doctor said.

"Oh, you'll change your tune, Time Lord, when my invasion begins. I may not have been able to take over the Daleks, but I got a nice consolation prize. I've just become the new leader of the Cybermen instead. I'm going to celebrate by attacking your favorite planet. This time it will be ours, Doctor, and there's nothing that you can do about it. I just thought that I'd let you know though so that you can watch it live on TV as it happens. It should be all over all of the networks any minute now. You'll have to tell me if the camera gets my good side or not. Oh, and does my bow tie look good? I picked this one out of my databanks especially for this occasion," Mr. Clever said with a grin.

"It looks like a Christmas ornament. You almost have as bad a fashion sense as my sixth self, and that's pretty bad," the Doctor said with an evil grin.

"You won't be smiling soon, Doctor, but I will. I'll be smiling as I see you in your grave. I'll see you later, Doctor. You'll see me again in just a few minutes though. I'm almost ready for my close-up," Mr. Clever said as he switched off his broadcast.

The Doctor quickly tuned the monitor into all of Earth's broadcasts as he waited for this promised broadcast of the Cyber-Planner's. Sure enough all of the major channels were broken into as Mr. Clever's smiling face appeared on them.

"Hello, hello, all of you beautiful people out there! Now, I know what you're thinking, but you're wrong. I am not the most handsome man that you've ever met. I appreciate the compliment though. I've come here to tell you about the good news. What's the good news, you ask? The good news is that I've come here to make all of your lives better. I'm going to take away all of your pain, sorrow, and suffering forever. Sounds too good to be true, you say? Well, it isn't. All that you have to do is to become one of us. Oh, Mr. Clever, that's me by the way, how do we do this? I can hear you asking yourselves this right now. The answer is simple. Right now, several of my best troops are coming to invite you to join us. All you have to do is give yourselves up to them, and you'll never have to worry about anything ever again. Of course, you'll never feel love, happiness, or any other emotion ever again, but emotions are all overrated anyway. Am I right? Who wants to feel emotions? Ugh! Yuck! Who wants to be immortal and have limitless power? Ooh! Ooh! Me! Me! I'm sure that all of you feel exactly the same so line up and let us know about it. Trust me, it's better this way. We're going to get you anyway so why not just surrender now and avoid all of the fuss?" Mr. Clever said.

Then he disappeared from the screen as the newscasters started breaking in with reports of Cybermen suddenly appearing all over London. It seemed that Clara's other self had been right. Apparently London had been chosen as the first place to be attacked.

As the Doctor started to land the TARDIS into the middle of this invasion, everyone was amazed to see the sudden arrival on the television broadcast of the statue of Nemesis, a statue made out of the living metal Validium who used to serve the Time Lords until Rose freed her. The statue had great destructive power and was almost invincible. She could just reform into a new form if she were ever destroyed.

"What's she doing here?" the Doctor asked warily.

"She probably just wants to help," Rose said.

"Yes, but which side?" the Doctor asked suspiciously.

"Oswin said that she helped her against Mr. Clever. He had taken her over as his new body until she freed her. I don't think she's going to be his biggest fan right now," Clara protested.

"She's not to be trusted. Lady Peinforte made her over into her own image when she crashed on Earth in 1638, and then she became a part of her. That's a huge strike against her from the start because that woman was pure evil," the Doctor said.

"Nemesis isn't evil, Professor. Just because Lady Peinforte was doesn't mean that she is," Ace argued.

"I'll believe it when I see it," the Doctor said stubbornly.

The TARDIS finally landed, and the entire group ran outside to see London in chaos. The Cybermen were everywhere, and people were running from them in terror. Nemesis was attacking the Cybermen with silver blasts of energy from her hands as she tried her best to protect the people around her.

"Told you so," Ace said as she glared at the Doctor.

Rose ran up to Nemesis and joined her in fighting the Cybermen as she began to talk to her. She was curious as to how she had gotten here so quickly.

"Hello, Arkytior. It's good to see you again. I wish that it was under better circumstances though," Nemesis said.

"Did you know that this was going to happen?" Rose asked.

"Yes, I did. I've been following Mr. Clever ever since I learned that he wasn't destroyed. I saw a woman in black walk away from Oswin's victory celebration with a glowing ball of energy in her hand back on Skaro, and I knew that he had survived somehow. I began to track him down because I want to pay him back for daring to take my freedom away from me so soon after I had gained it. I'm not going to let him get away with that, and I'm certainly not going to give him another chance to take it away ever again. This has been my first real chance to draw him out into the open and confront him directly. Now that he's found himself a new body, he's determined to show everyone else just how superior that he is to them," Nemesis explained.

"A new body?" Rose asked as a bad feeling swept over her.

"Yes. It's a very huge one as a matter of fact," Nemesis said.

Talos suddenly appeared behind the two of them wearing massive metal boots covering his heels to protect them, and Rose felt glad to see him again. That is until he opened his mouth.

"Hello, Rosie! Aww, what's with the look of disappointment?! I thought you'd be glad to see good old Talos again. It's guess it's just me you're not too pleased about. I must say that I'm hurt. Wounded even!" Talos said in the voice style of Mr. Clever.

"Let him go! He's done nothing to you!" Rose demanded.

"He's your friend. That's enough reason to torture him to me," Mr. Clever said.

Then he lifted up one of Talos' enormous feet and started bringing it down on top of Rose and Nemesis as he attempted to smash both of them flat with it!

"Let's see if the Doctor still loves you when you're stuck to the bottom of my foot. I think he'll be asking for a divorce pretty quick if you ask me," Mr. Clever said with an enormous smile plastered all over his face.

The Black Guardian watched nearby with a huge smile on her face as well. She was enjoying this immensely. She would love sticking it to Ishtar's favorite little pet this way.

This was only the beginning of her revenge upon her!

**Next: If Rose and Nemesis do somehow happen to survive becoming a stain on the sidewalk, then they'll join the rest of our cast next time as they take on the Cybermen and Mr. Clever to save London. Also, Pete finally works up the courage to ask Mary out. Will he actually do it right this time, and what will her answer be?**


	18. Who Is the Cleverest One of Them All? 2

CHAPTER 18

I do not own Doctor Who and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Who Is The Cleverest One of Them All? Part 2

"Forgive me, Talos," Rose said as she used her powers to make Mr. Clever fall over backwards before he could squash her and Nemesis with his enormous foot.

She increased the force of gravity on Mr. Clever so that he had difficulty getting back up. The more that he struggled the more that she increased the gravity on him. Soon the force of gravity on his body was so strong that he couldn't move and could barely speak or breathe.

"You're . . . only . . . delaying . . . the . . . inevitable," Mr. Clever said.

"Not quite so chatty now, are you? It looks like I've finally found a way to quiet you down some," Rose said.

"I'll shut him up forever," Nemesis said as she began to attack Mr. Clever with an enormous burst of silver energy that made him scream in pain.

"No! You're killing Talos! He's my friend. He didn't do anything wrong," Rose protested.

"This is my chance to finally destroy Mr. Clever. It's the swiftest way of ending this invasion," Nemesis said as she continued to attack him.

"Nemesis, stop now!" Rose said in a warning tone.

"You heard what she said, Nemesis. Stop attacking him," the Doctor said as he came up behind her.

"I don't have to obey your orders any more, Doctor. That's all over with now," Nemesis said.

"Nemesis, you've got to stop this. You're not evil. I know you aren't," Ace said.

"Sacrifices must be made for the greater good. I must kill him, innocent or not, in order to protect others," Nemesis said.

"That's not how we do things. There has to be another way. Nemesis, I'm warning you to stop right now," Rose said with an ominous tone in her voice.

"I told you that she was evil. You can't talk to her," the Doctor said.

"No, she's not evil. I know she's not. She's helped me before. She wouldn't have done that if she was evil," Ace said in an emotional voice.

Nemesis looked at Ace sadly for a moment. Rose realized that Ace was starting to get through to her. She saw an opening now, and she took it.

"I know that you don't want to do this, Nemesis. I believe in you. I always believed in you even when no one else would. I wanted to set you free from the control of the High Council even when no one else did because they feared you. Remember that," Rose said.

Nemesis stopped her attack as she said, "I'm sorry, Talos. I've let my temper get the best of me. I was angry at Mr. Clever for taking my body over, and now I'm taking it out on someone who's just a much a pawn of his as I was."

The Doctor looked amazed as he said, "What?"

"I told you that she wasn't evil, Professor," Ace said with a relieved smile on her face.

"Maybe I might have been mistaken. That does happen. Sometimes. Occasionally," the Doctor said.

"That's his way of saying 'I was wrong'. You'll have to listen carefully to hear it though," Rose said.

"How are we going to stop the Cybermen without killing Mr. Clever and his host body?" Nemesis asked.

"You . . . can't. No . . . one . . . can. I'm . . . too . . . clever," Mr. Clever said slowly.

"He thinks because he stole the body of a friend of mine that he's safe from us. He thinks that makes him clever," Rose said as she smiled at the Doctor.

"He's wrong," the Doctor said as he smiled back.

"What are you two up to?" Clara asked as she came running up to them.

"What makes you think that we're up to something?" the Doctor said with an innocent look on his face.

"I've known you all of your lives, Doctor. I know what that look means," Clara said.

"Yeah, I keep forgetting that. I can't fool you, can I?" the Doctor said.

"Nope. I probably know you better than anyone except for Rose and Amy. So what's the plan?" Clara asked.

"You'll see. Since you know me so well, why don't you figure it out for yourself?" the Doctor challenged.

"I bet I can," Clara said.

"So do I. I bet you five pounds that she figures it out before we have to tell her," Rose said.

"You're on," the Doctor said.

"Come on, Clara. Don't let me down," Rose said.

"I'll just follow you two around and see if I can come up with it," Clara said.

"You'll have to think of something quick, Doctor. The Cybermen are tearing apart the city," Polly said.

The city was in chaos as the Cybermen were slowly marching through it, and several UNIT troops were the only forces capable of even slowing them down. Right now they were the only ones who were preventing a full out slaughter of the populace, and they wouldn't be able to hold them back for long. The Doctor knew that he had to act quickly.

"Polly, do you think that you could come up with Cocktail Polly on the spot? Do you have any of the chemicals required handy?" the Doctor asked.

"I can certainly try. I don't have anything with me, no," Polly said.

"I can help. If I don't have it in my room in my Nitro-9 kit, then maybe I could create whatever chemicals that we need with my powers," Ace volunteered.

"Good. I want you two to go off and create as much Cocktail Polly as you can and quickly. Try to make it stronger than you've ever made it. The Cybermen's armor has gotten much tougher than it was back when you traveled with me before, Polly," the Doctor said.

"We'll get on it, Doctor," Polly said as she and Ace ran back into the TARDIS.

"Okay. That's step one," the Doctor said.

"Cocktail Polly. That's the metal solvent that Polly created to eat through the armor of the Cybermen, right?" Clara asked.

"That's right," the Doctor said.

"Okay, I'm keeping up with you so far," Clara said.

"Rose, I need you to go into every jewelry store and bank vault that you can find in the area and obtain everything with a certain element in it from them. I think that you know the one," the Doctor said.

"We should have gotten Christina for this one. This is more her specialty than mine," Rose joked.

Rose left as she began her search while Mr. Clever snorted at them. He started to laugh very slowly.

"Nothing . . . will . . . stop . . . us," Mr. Clever said.

"We'll see about that. This one will finally answer the question of who is the cleverest one of them all," the Doctor said with a grin.

"Yeah . . . me," Mr. Clever said.

"What could she be getting from jewelry stores and banks that could hurt the Cybermen?" Clara asked.

"Think about it," the Doctor said.

"Oh! Gold! Gold is deadly to Cybermen. I remember now," Clara said.

"I was hoping that you wouldn't get that one," the Doctor said as he pouted.

"She's good, isn't she?" Rose said as she came back with several gold bars and a ton of gold jewelry in her arms.

"Are you going to be able to pay that back somehow?" Clara asked.

"I'll replace it all somehow. Maybe I could get Amy to make a donation to everyone I took things from," Rose said.

"Just how rich is she anyway? Even Cydonia never knew for sure," Clara asked.

"Rich enough to buy the entire Earth several times over if she wanted to, and if the Earth was for sale," the Doctor said.

"Amy could probably do a better job running it. That's for sure," Clara said.

"I don't even want to think about it. Everyone would be wearing extremely short mini-skirts and yelling all of the time. Also everyone would be ginger, and I still wouldn't be. That thought makes me shiver right there," the Doctor said as he did exactly that for a minute.

As soon as Rose handed the Doctor all of the gold that she was holding, she slapped him. The Doctor screamed and looked at her in confusion.

"I was doing that for Amy. We've both agreed that I'm supposed to slap you whenever you say something about her, and she isn't here to do it for herself," Rose said.

"You could have told me about that," the Doctor complained.

"Yeah but that would take away the surprise," Rose said with a smile as she gave him a tender kiss on the spot on his face where she had just slapped him.

"You know I'm starting to get mixed signals from you, Rose," the Doctor said.

"The slap was from Amy, and the kiss was from me. It's my way of apologizing," Rose said.

"I'd just like the kisses without the slaps if you could do that from now on," the Doctor said with a grin.

"I think that I could arrange that," Rose said as she kissed him on the lips this time.

"Okay. Break it up. You need to focus. We need to stop the Cybermen. Remember?" Clara said.

"We're on it, Clara. So what are you going to do with the gold, Doctor?" Rose asked.

"You'll see. I'll take this to Ace and Polly," the Doctor said as he went into the TARDIS carrying the gold with him.

"I think I know what he's going to do with it," Clara said.

"Really? Tell me," Rose said.

Clara did so, and Rose smiled. That was what she had thought too, but she wasn't sure if they were right or not yet.

Several minutes later, the Doctor emerged from the TARDIS wearing a tank filled with chemicals on his back with a hose connected to it. Polly and Ace came out wearing the same tanks on their backs as well and so did Pete, Mary, and Alex a few minutes later.

"It looks like you were right, Clara," Rose said.

"She guessed it? Oh, come on!" the Doctor said as he pouted.

"Tell him what you told me, Clara," Rose said.

"I told Rose that you were going to melt the gold down and mix it with Cocktail Polly so that as the metal solvent weakens and breaks down their metal shells the gold enters their bodies and starts clogging up their respiratory systems and otherwise interfering with their normal functions. Obviously you've chosen to deliver this witches' brew by dressing like an exterminator. I like it though. It's much better than your usual look," Clara said.

"Bow ties are cool," the Doctor said firmly.

"If you say so, Chin Boy. Pay Rose the five pounds now," Clara said.

"Fine," the Doctor said as he pulled a five-pound note out of his pocket and grudgingly handed it to Rose.

"You'd think that you would have learned after that bet about Queen Victoria," Rose said triumphantly.

"No!" Mr. Clever said as he realized what the Doctor was up to now.

"Oh, yes. Now who's the clever one?" the Doctor asked as he and the others started spraying every Cyberman in sight with Polly and Ace's newest concoction.

All of the Cybermen began to scream in agony as their metal bodies started to seize up and stop functioning. Even as they did so, Rose's eyes began to glow with energy as she started to transform them back into their original form. As each Cyberman fell, Rose would slowly make them human once again.

"No! You can't do this!" Mr. Clever shouted.

"I guess they can," Clara said with a chuckle.

The Cybermen were being mopped up very quickly and without any trouble until Mary failed to see a Cyberman that had snuck up behind her. The Cyberman grabbed Mary's neck and started to strangle her until Pete used his powers to push it away from her. It went flying into several other Cybermen nearby and knocked them over like bowling pins while Mary fell to the ground unconscious.

"Mary, are you alright?" Pete cried out as he raced to her side.

Mary didn't respond and Pete became extremely upset as he tried to gently shake her awake. She wouldn't respond at all no matter what he tried. He started to softly stroke her hair without even realizing it as he tried to talk to her.

"Come on, Mary. You've got to wake up. You've got to be okay. I never even got to apologize to you yet. I'm so sorry for what I said. That wasn't really me. I'm not that person at all. It was just that I didn't know how to approach you. I wanted to ask you, and I was too terrified to do it properly. I mean you're so beautiful that I was sure that you'd turn me down, but I had to try. I would hate myself forever if I didn't. Please wake up. You've got to be okay," Pete said in tears.

"You're an idiot," Mary said suddenly.

"What?" Pete said as he was taken by complete surprise.

"I said that you're an idiot. If you had talked to me like that before, then I would have said yes immediately," Mary said as she suddenly opened her eyes and smiled at him.

"You mean it?" Pete asked.

"I certainly do. How about we wait and make plans for our date later though when we're not surrounded by thousands of Cybermen?" Mary said.

"Alright. You're the boss," Pete said.

"You keep saying things like that, and you're liable to get a second date," Mary said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Pete began to smile then as he charged headfirst towards a large group of Cybermen spraying them left and right as he shouted, "She said yes! She said yes!"

Rose snickered as she watched her son in action. She turned to the Doctor with a grin as she said, "He is so your son."

"What's the big deal? He acts like he's going out with a movie star," Alex said in puzzlement.

Ace quickly punched him in the arm and he yelped in pain as he said, "What was that for?"

"For not appreciating your sister more," Ace growled.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I love my sister. I just don't know why he's going so crazy over her," Alex said.

"He obviously loves her. It seems to be something that you don't know anything about," Ace said as she stomped off in a rage.

"What was that about?" Alex asked himself in puzzlement.

Once all of the Cybermen had been defeated, Mr. Clever was left all alone. He knew that he had been outwitted, and it enraged him.

"Where are all of your clever little quips now, huh?" Rose taunted him.

"Just finish me off already," Mr. Clever grumbled.

"You're going to leave Talos right now," Rose demanded.

"You're going to have to make me. I won't go voluntarily. Why should I help you?" Mr. Clever said stubbornly.

"There's only one way to drive him out. I'll have to create an electromagnetic pulse. I could have done it before, but I'm not sure how it would affect a silicon based lifeform like Talos. It could wind up killing him," Rose said.

"Rose, let me help," Nemesis said.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

Nemesis touched Talos, and Mr. Clever quickly jumped into her. He took her over once again as he said, "I'm back, baby! No one's gonna stop me now!"

"Wrong!" Rose said as she sent a massive electromagnetic pulse right into Nemesis' body.

Nemesis smiled as she felt Mr. Clever's consciousness being driven out of her and sent back to join the collective consciousness of the Cybermen once again. He wasn't totally defeated, but it was close enough.

Talos finally came to his senses again as he said, "You took a risk of being possessed by him again to save me. Thank you!"

"It's the least that I could do after trying to kill you earlier. I'm so sorry about that," Nemesis said.

"I don't blame you. Time was running out, and people were in danger. I'm glad that you didn't though," Talos said.

"So am I," Nemesis said softly.

Rose began to wonder if something was going on as the two of them stared at each other in silence for a while. Then she smiled to herself as she finally realized what was happening.

Well, I never saw that coming. Now I'm really glad that I talked her out of killing him. Rose thought to herself.

"How would you like to come visit my home planet? It's very beautiful this time of year," Talos asked Nemesis.

"I'd like that. I'd like that a lot. I'll see you later, Rose," Nemesis said as she walked off with Talos.

Ace walked up to Rose and whispered, "Are those two . . . ?"

"I think so," Rose said.

"Good for her," Ace said happily.

"Good for both of them," Rose said as she watched them walk off together.

**Next: Rose starts getting sick a lot lately especially in the mornings. What could be wrong with her? You don't think it could be . . . ? Naw!**


	19. Rose's Little Surprise

CHAPTER 19

I do not own Doctor Who, Supernatural, or Merlin and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Rose's Little Surprise

Rose threw up yet again and felt extremely sick. She hadn't been this sick since she had been human. She was beginning to suspect that something might be wrong and wondered if she had caught some terrible unknown disease on one of her travels.

Clara knocked on the bathroom door and said through it, "Are you okay, Rose?"

"No, I think I may be dying. It's a good thing I can regenerate, huh? Oh, look! There's my dinner," Rose said as she tried to make light of the situation.

"Rose, I just want to see if you're okay. Let me in," Clara said in a worried voice.

Rose opened the door, and Clara looked at her in shock. Rose looked like she had about had it.

She could tell just by looking at her that she was so weak that she could barely stand. She could see her legs shaking.

"Sweetie, you're going to bed. Come on. You need to rest," Clara said as she helped Rose back to her and the Doctor's bed.

"I think I should stay in the bathroom. It seems to have become my second home lately," Rose joked.

"I'll bring you a bucket. You don't need to stay in there all day. You need to rest," Clara said firmly.

"Are you treating me like a child, Clara Oswald?" Rose asked with a grin on her face.

"If I am, I'm sorry. It's the nanny in me. It comes from being around my kids and the Doctor so much I suppose," Clara said with a chuckle.

"That'll do it. I sometimes wonder if I'm one of the few adults that you ever get to see," Rose said.

"Sometimes it seems like it. I'm always around either the kids or the Doctor most of the time," Clara admitted.

"Like I said, I'm one of the few adults that you ever get to see," Rose joked.

"You must not be too far gone. You can still joke about the Doctor. That's always a good sign. I remember once you were so sick when you were carrying Cassiopeia that you couldn't even insult him. That worried both me and the Doctor," Clara said.

"That's another one of Cydonia's memories," Rose reminded her.

"I know but it seems like one of mine. It just seems so odd. I've only known you a few months, and yet ever since Trenzalore I've known you all of your life more or less. Part of me was there with you on Gallifrey and other versions of me were there watching the human version of you on your travels with the other Doctors," Clara said.

"Really? Where?" Rose asked intrigued.

"I was there when Cassandra almost fried you by opening up the sun filters. I wanted to help you so badly, but I knew that I couldn't. I was also there at Krop Tor. I wanted to tell you, Rose. I wanted to tell you so much that you were about to be sent away at Canary Wharf," Clara said.

"Clara, are the blocks in your mind not working?" Rose asked in concern.

"No, they're fine. Sorry. I just become very sad sometimes about some of the things that I've had to see when I think about them too much. Like the Time War. Cydonia was there you know. She saw it almost through to the end. She finally fled it in terror because it became too much for her to take," Clara admitted.

"I'm okay now. I promise. You don't need to feel guilty about Canary Wharf. I'm fine," Rose said.

"So am I. Sorry. I think that I need to focus on my own memories more. We shouldn't be worried about me though. We need to think about you. When did you start getting sick?" Clara asked.

"It started just a few hours ago when I woke up. I woke up at the crack of dawn to throw up, and I've been doing it off and on ever since," Rose said.

"Why didn't you say something?" Clara asked worried.

"I didn't want to bother anybody," Rose said.

"You're so silly sometimes. I'm going to get a doctor to see you," Clara said.

"You don't need to do that," Rose insisted.

"I know but I want to. You're my friend, Rose, and I'm not going to leave you in here alone when you're this sick. I'll be right back after I get a doctor. Wait here," Clara said.

"What doctor? Where are you going to get one?" Rose asked.

"You'll see," Clara said as she walked out.

Minutes later, Rose could feel the Doctor's TARDIS start to dematerialize, and she realized in horror that Clara was flying it by herself. I hope we don't wind up back in the UNIT days again. I'm really not in the mood for time travel right now.

Rose laughed at herself as she realized what she had just been thinking. I must be sick if I'm thinking something that crazy!

Minutes later, Clara returned to Rose's bedroom with Dr. Grace Holloway. She was the Eighth Doctor's old companion who she and the Doctor had just run into again recently. The Doctor had said that she had become an expert on alien biology since he had met her, and she had heard from the Brigadier that she had gotten a job at UNIT lately. Maybe she was exactly the type of doctor that she needed right now.

"Hello, Rose. It's good to see you again," Grace said.

"It's good to see you too. I just wish it had been under better circumstances," Rose said.

Clara and Rose both quickly explained what was going on to Grace, and she immediately set to work examining Rose. Rose could see that she actually had a doctor's bag filled with tools with her. Some of them looked suspiciously like Gallifreyan medical devices. Exactly how much did Grace know about Time Lord biology anyway?

"How did you know where to find Grace?" Rose asked Clara while she was being examined.

"The Doctor told me about her. He was proud of her for getting a job with the Brigadier," Clara said.

"Really?" Grace asked with a smile.

"Yeah. He was glad that you were going on with your life. He said that he knew that it was hard to forget someone as wonderful as him, but he was proud of you for doing it," Clara said.

"That sounds like him," Grace said with a grin.

"It certainly does. Humility has never been a part of the Doctor's vocabulary," Rose said.

Grace examined Rose carefully and took her time because she wanted to be very sure of what she was about to tell her. This diagnosis would change her life. She couldn't afford to be wrong about this.

"Well, Doc, what is it? What's wrong with me?" Rose said in a mischievous tone as she was now feeling better since Grace had arrived. Grace had helped both her and Clara to relax somewhat.

Grace smiled at her as she said, "You're pregnant."

"What?" Rose asked in complete shock.

"You're going to have a baby. I'm not sure what it is yet. It's too early to tell," Grace said.

"What?" Rose said again in a stunned voice.

"She said that you're pregnant," Clara said.

"What?!" Rose asked a third time in complete denial.

"Why are you screaming so much for, Rose?" Polly said as she walked into the room.

"Rose is pregnant!" Clara said in an excited voice.

"That's great! Isn't it?" Polly asked as she saw Rose's shocked expression.

"Yeah, it is. Of course it is," Rose said finally.

"It's just a bit of a shock that's all," Grace said.

"Yeah, it is. I never even thought about that being it. I mean Sarah and Pete aren't due for some time yet," Rose said.

"What?" Grace asked.

"Hey! Don't you start doing that now! She's talking about her future daughter and son. She already knows when they're going to be born, but she obviously had no idea about this little boy," Clara said.

"It's going to be a boy?" Polly asked with a smile.

"No, I never said that. Why did you say that?" Grace asked.

"Say what?" Clara said with a guilty look on her face.

"You said that I was going to have a boy, Clara Oswald. You knew about this baby the whole time. That's why you were so concerned about me and wanted me to rest. Admit it!" Rose accused her.

"Alright, I knew about him. One of my other selves from the future found out about him and told me. I wasn't supposed to tell you," Clara said.

"Other selves from the future? Future children that you already know about? I thought the Doctor was weird enough from what I knew about him before, but it turns out that Time Lords just keep getting weirder and weirder the more that I find out about them," Grace said as she shook her head.

"Oh, I'm not a Time Lord. I'm human," Clara said.

"Oh, sorry! I just assumed that you were since you flew the TARDIS," Grace said.

"Oh, well the Doctor taught me how to fly her. More or less. I was a Time Lord though once or at least one of my past selves was," Clara said.

Grace just looked at her in confusion as she said, "I need an aspirin. I'm starting to get a headache."

"Traveling with the Doctor is even worse about things like that, but it's so worth it," Polly said.

"Do I know you?" Grace asked as she looked at Polly closely.

"No. We've never met before today. Why?" Polly said confused.

"You just look so familiar. Wait a minute! I know who you are. Polly Wright. You traveled with the Doctor before. That was back in the 60's though. How do you still look so young? You look like a young woman," Grace asked in amazement.

"I am young again thanks to a little help from my future grandchild. It's a long story," Polly said.

"I'd love to hear it. Then again maybe I wouldn't. My headache might get worse," Grace said as she giggled.

"How do you know about Polly?" Rose asked.

"I've studied the Doctor's files at UNIT since I started working there. I know everything that they know about him now," Grace admitted.

"Really?" Rose asked not sure how to take that.

"Oh, don't worry, Rose. I'm not madly in love with him. It's not like I'd stand a chance against you anyway. I remember whose name he was calling out in my Operating Room, and it wasn't mine. It was yours. I've just been filled with curiosity about him ever since I met him, and I couldn't help but try to fill in some of the blanks about him. That's all," Grace said.

"I can understand that. I did that when I first met him too," Rose said as she remembered meeting Clive, the man with the website about the Doctor.

She reminded herself to thank him for his help someday. Or at least his wife and son.

"What? Oh, yeah. You met him again as a human after losing him that's right. I read about that in UNIT's files. That was a little confusing to me, but I think that I understand it," Grace said.

"Stick around long enough, and nothing will confuse you anymore," Clara grinned.

"I'm beginning to understand that. Anyway, you're fine, Rose. This is just morning sickness. That's all. I recommend plenty of rest though, and no overdoing yourself," Grace said.

Both Clara and Polly looked at her like she was insane and she said, "What is it?"

"She's never going to rest. She's always going around saving the universe. It's what she does," Clara said.

"She'll need to stop it for a while then. Unless she enjoys being sick as a dog," Grace said.

"I see what you're saying, Grace. Thank you," Rose said.

"You're going to do what I said, aren't you?" Grace said.

"Yes, I certainly am. Don't worry," Rose said.

"I'll make sure of it," Clara said as she gave Rose a stern look.

"I'll see you later then. Call me anytime if you need me," Grace said as she left, and Clara went with her to show her the way back out.

"You're going to keep that promise, Rose," Polly said firmly.

"Of course I am, Polly. I meant what I said. The universe can do without me for a little while, can't it? I mean the Doctor's still around to fix things after all," Rose said.

"Where is the Doctor anyway?" Polly asked.

"He said something about fixing the temperature controls in the library. He said that the swimming pool was freezing up again. It had completely iced over apparently," Rose said with a grin.

"Oh, is that what Pete and Mary were talking about?" Polly said as something finally clicked with her that the two of them had told her earlier this morning.

"What do you mean?" Rose asked.

"They said that they were going skating. I asked them where, and they said that they wouldn't have to leave the TARDIS. I didn't understand that until just now," Polly said with a laugh.

"They're really hitting it off, aren't they? I'm glad, Polly. I like Mary, and I think that she'll be very good for him. Pete is painfully shy around girls. I never would have expected that. I guess I should have expected that with the Doctor as a dad though," Rose said.

"He was never shy around me," Polly said.

"That's because he only thought of you as a friend. If he had liked you, it would have been a different story. Believe me. It took him about a hundred years just to ask me out," Rose said.

"I can believe that about him I think. He always had a certain kind of vulnerability about him even back then when I first traveled with him. Rose, there's something that I should tell you. Grace's story about how he called out your name when he was being operated on made me remember something that he did during his first regeneration. I assume that it was his first one anyway. He was so afraid and confused afterwards," Polly said.

"It was, yes. What did he do?" Rose asked.

"He called out the name Arkytior then too. It was after he had first changed. He was screaming about his head hurting, and I think that the room was spinning for him. He began calling out your name and asking for help. I ran to him and tried my best to comfort him. In his confusion, he thought that I was you. I realized that you must be someone that he loved so I went along with it and told him to calm down. I kept telling him that everything was going to be alright, and he eventually made it through whatever pain that he was in. Afterwards, he realized what I had done; and I apologized to him for it. He looked at me and said 'It's alright, Polly. She would have wanted you to do it.' I just thought that I'd tell you about that," Polly said.

Rose hugged her tightly as she said, "He was right. Thank you, Polly. Thank you for being there for him when I couldn't be. I always knew that he was afraid of regeneration. I kept hoping that I would live long enough to help him through his first one," Rose said.

"Did you know what was going to happen to you?" Polly asked.

"Not exactly. I just knew that something was because of a slip of the tongue by the Second Doctor when he met me when I was very young," Rose said.

"That must have been horrible to think that you were going to die young your whole life," Polly said.

"It was but it was also liberating. It made me do things that I otherwise wouldn't have because I thought that I wouldn't have much time. It helped me more than you would think," Rose said.

"Rose, the Doctor should know about the baby. You need to tell him right away," Polly said.

"I probably won't see him for a while, and I really don't feel like walking to the library right now to be honest," Rose said.

"I'll go for you," Polly said.

"What are you going to do for her?" Ace asked as she suddenly appeared.

"I want to tell the Doctor that she's pregnant," Polly said.

"Really? That's great!" Ace said as she became excited.

"I'll just go and tell him then," Polly said.

"No, I'll do it. The Professor will be up in just a second. Trust me!" Ace said as she winked at them.

"Dorothy, what are you up to?" Rose asked.

"Nothing," Ace said with a grin.

"I know that look. It always means trouble," Rose said.

"No, Mum. No trouble at all. I promise," Ace said with her fingers crossed behind her back.

She ran off to get the Doctor, and the TARDIS was soon rocked by a loud explosion. Rose sighed. She knew it!

"What did she blow up now I wonder?" Polly asked with a grin.

"Well the TARDIS is still intact, so it must not have been too bad," Rose said as she tried to look for a silver lining.

Mary and Pete walked into Rose's bedroom minutes later soaking wet as Polly asked, "What happened?"

"Ace blew up all of the ice in the swimming pool! That's what happened! She ruined our first date!" Mary shouted.

"It's okay. I was just glad to be there with you. It didn't matter what we were doing really. I didn't even mind getting suddenly soaked as we fell into the water together," Pete said with a grin.

Mary smiled at him as she said, "That's sweet. I'm still angry though. I told her off for it too, and she just laughed at me."

"Let's see if she's laughing now," Rose said as her eyes glowed for a minute.

"What did you do?" Polly asked.

"I took away her powers for a week by cutting her connection to the Vortex. That'll teach her to pull a stunt like that again. She could have hurt both of the kids," Rose said as she became angry herself now.

"No, she would never do that," Mary said.

"I like how you've suddenly changed from being angry at her to defending her," Rose said with a grin.

"She didn't hurt us. She just gave us an unexpected bath that's all," Mary said.

"It was kind of funny really," Pete said.

"Yeah, it was," Mary said as she started laughing.

The two of them started laughing together, and Rose smiled as Pete put his arm around her. They were definitely in love alright. This time she didn't say one word when he put his arm around her.

The Doctor finally came into the room as well. He was also soaking wet and mad. He saw Mary and Alex laughing and looked bewildered. What was so funny?

"I suppose you heard what Ace just did," the Doctor said.

"Yes, we all heard actually," Polly said as she giggled.

"I imagine so. She made me fall into the pool too along with Mary and Alex. I had decided to try my hand at skating since I was having a little trouble fixing the temperature controls. I thought that a little relaxation would help me to solve the problem quicker," the Doctor explained.

"You just wanted to have a little fun," Rose said.

"That too," the Doctor admitted with a grin.

"Don't worry. I took her powers away for a week," Rose said.

"Good. I'm going to ground her too. No going outside the TARDIS for a week either," the Doctor said.

"Oh, please! You'll cave on that one in less than a day," Rose said.

"Will not," the Doctor pouted.

"You will too, and you know it. She has you wrapped around her little finger. She always did," Rose said.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm really going to try to hold onto my threat though this time," the Doctor said.

"I hope that you'll be harder on the next child than you are on her," Rose said.

"Oh, I will be for sure," the Doctor said.

"You heard him, everyone. I'm going to hold you to that. You're going to have to quit being such a softy, Doctor. Little Michael will need a stern father I'm sure," Rose said.

"What? We don't have a son named Michael," the Doctor said.

"Not yet but we will," Rose said with a huge smile.

"You mean?" the Doctor asked.

"Yep, I'm pregnant again. We must be magic together, Doctor. We just keep popping out the babies," Rose said happily.

"I never even expected this one. He's never shown up before," the Doctor said.

"I know. I have absolutely no idea what he's going to look like. Just like a normal birth. Isn't that wonderful?" Rose said.

"Yeah. It's, for lack of a better word, fantastic!" the Doctor said as he gave her a tender kiss.

The two of them continued to kiss for several minutes as the others all left. They knew that it would be best for them to leave the new parents alone for a while. That was why Clara had never come back. She knew that would happen sooner or later. It always did. The two of them never stopped wanting to kiss when they were around each other. They acted now just like they had when they were both young.

Of course Rose was still young. Clara had learned a long time ago to never tell her otherwise.

Clara was back in the Console Room practicing flying the TARDIS again after having dropped Grace off back at UNIT HQ. She was now looking through the internet on the monitor to keep up with all of the current news back in London. You'd be amazed what all that you could lose track up traveling in the TARDIS.

She came across a story that shocked her at first until she realized the meaning behind it. It seemed that a man named Clive came home to his wife and son that very day after they were sure that he had been killed in an alien invasion years ago. He didn't look a day older than he had been when his family had thought that they had watched him die. He had no explanation for what had happened to him other than he was sure that the mysterious man known only as the Doctor must have been behind it somehow. The columnist thought that he was a nutter for saying that of course.

Clara knew that it was all nonsense. It wasn't the Doctor at all. She knew who was really behind it.

When she asked Rose about it later, Rose would only say, "I guess it was just an angel looking out for him. That's all."

"Was her name Rose?" Clara asked.

Rose only smiled.

**Next: Speaking of angels, one appears in the next chapter. I'll give you a hint as to who he is. He's a member of Rose's fan club. That's right! Next chapter is a sort of mini-crossover between TV shows as it will guest star Castiel and my version of Jo from Supernatural and Merlin and my version of Nimueh from Merlin. **


	20. Clara's Extremely Huge Surprise

CHAPTER 20

I do not own Doctor Who, Supernatural, or Merlin and I am making no profit off of this.

**Thank you for all of your favorites, follows, story alerts, and reviews! **

Clara's Extremely Huge Surprise

Rose held little Jacqueline in her arms as she sat on her bed inside of the House of Lungbarrow on Gallifrey. She had been laid up here for several days getting plenty of rest just as Grace had prescribed for her to do. She cooed to Jacqueline and smiled at her as the little girl laughed.

She was actually glad to have an excuse just to rest for once. She didn't see the baby as often as she would like, and she hated it. It seemed that there was always some new menace or another keeping her from spending time with her.

She wondered if that would continue for the rest of Jacqueline's childhood. She really hoped not. She didn't want to miss any more of her life or of Michael's either when he was born.

"I never resented you for it. Ever," Cassie said as she suddenly appeared next to her.

"How did you know what I was thinking?" Rose asked.

"I know that look, Mum. You feel like you're not a good mother but you are. You're the best mother I could have ever asked for. I just wanted you to know that," Cassie said as she started to hug her.

"Be sure and watch out for little Jackie. You don't want to touch your other self, Cassie. Trust me! I found out about that the hard way," Rose said with a grin.

"I always liked the name Michael for him by the way. Good call naming him after Uncle Mickey," Cassie said.

"I figured I owed him a godchild after everything that I've put him through. Don't you think?" Rose asked with a grin.

"I figure you should have probably named us all after him, but I'm so glad that you didn't," Cassie said with a giggle.

"I could still rename you. It's not too late. Maybe I should call you Michelle," Rose joked.

"Sister of Mine wouldn't like that too much. She's pretty much claimed that name," Cassie said with a grin.

"It's so good to see you again, Cassie. Would you stay around a while this time?" Rose asked in a serious voice.

"I will soon, Mum. Not just yet though. I don't like to risk messing around too much with my own history or I would be around more often," Cassie said.

"Let me worry about that. I just like seeing you and how you turn out. It makes me feel a lot better about things. Sometimes I feel like I'm missing everything," Rose admitted as she softly ran her fingers through little Jacqueline's hair.

Cassie smiled as she said, "No, you're not. It's going to be fine, Mum. There's some surprises coming for you soon. You're especially going to get a big kick out of the last one. Hopefully, it'll make you feel better. I'm going to leave before things start, but I promise I'll be back after they finish. I'll see you soon. I love you, Mum."

"I love you too," Rose said as Cassie vanished.

"Who were you talking to?" the Doctor asked as he came into the room.

"Jacqueline. She was just here. She says that we've got something unexpected coming our way very soon now," Rose said.

"What else is new? I think our children must hang around River too much in the future. They've become just like her with all of the dark mysterious spoilers business," the Doctor said.

"Don't ever let her hear you say that if you enjoy staying in one piece," Rose said.

"I'm not afraid of her," the Doctor said.

"Hello, River," Rose said with a grin as she pretended that she was looking at River standing in the doorway behind the Doctor. She turned her gaze back to the Doctor only to find that he had suddenly disappeared.

"I wonder what happened to Daddy, huh? Where do you think he went? It seems like the bad old River scared him away, didn't she? Yes, she did," Rose said to Jacqueline as the baby laughed at her.

"River's not really here, is she?" the Doctor's voice said from underneath the bed.

"Nope," Rose said as the Doctor emerged from underneath it.

"I thought that you weren't scared of her," Rose taunted him.

"I'm not. I was just checking under the bed for Cybermites. They can be nasty little buggers. You have to catch them early before they enslave you. I didn't find any though fortunately. Remind me to clean under the bed though. I think that we may have some kind of new species evolving under there. I'm not sure if they're friendly or not. Yet," the Doctor said.

"Well, when you find out you let me know, okay?" Rose said with a smile as she played along with his story.

"I certainly will," the Doctor said as he smiled warmly at her and gave her a tender kiss.

"You came in here to tell me that you're leaving, didn't you?" Rose asked.

"I'm so sorry, Rose. I don't want to leave you especially not now of all times. I would stay but it seems that the planet Seleron is in some kind of trouble with the Sontarans. The High Council themselves have ordered me to go there and look into it. I miss the old days when the Council never knew where I was so that they couldn't bother me," the Doctor said with a sigh.

"Unfortunately you never knew where you were most of the time either," Rose commented with a grin.

"You're not angry about it?" the Doctor asked.

"No, it's fine. I'll be okay, Doctor. I'll just invite some friends over to keep me company if I get too bored. You're not going by yourself, are you?" Rose asked.

"I was thinking about it, yeah. Why?" the Doctor asked.

"I don't want you to go by yourself, Doctor. Take Clara with you. She'll help keep you out of trouble," Rose insisted.

"It's not like I need someone to watch over me to make sure that I don't hurt myself you know," the Doctor said as he pouted.

"I know. I know. I'd just feel better if Clara went with you. That's all," Rose said.

"Alright, fine. I guess Clara could use a good trip anyway. She still seems to be just a little sad sometimes even now about what happened at Trenzalore. It'll do her some good," the Doctor said.

Rose nodded and gave him a kiss good bye as he left to pick up Clara at her house back on Earth. If she was being honest, she really wanted them to go together so that they would watch over each other. She knew that they could both use the company.

Besides that, Clara was one of the few people who she completely trusted to take care of the Doctor for her. She knew that she would keep him from getting into too much trouble while she was restricted to her bed like this.

For once, Rose would soon be proven to be wrong.

Rose played with Jacqueline for a while and then the baby went to sleep leaving her completely alone. She was glad that the baby was getting to rest, but it was terrible for her because now she had absolutely no one to talk to. She sat there for a while bored out of her skull and became so desperate that she actually considered using her powers to spy on the Doctor just to give her some kind of excitement. She shook her head at this idea knowing that if the Doctor ever found out about it that she'd never hear the end of it.

"I'm really going to have to bring a television set in here sometime and rig it up to get some Earth channels. This is ridiculous," Rose said to herself.

She finally decided to call upon some of her friends just as she'd told the Doctor that she might. In particular, she decided to call upon two of them who she hadn't seen in a while.

She snapped her fingers as her eyes glowed, and two figures suddenly appeared in front of her. To her chagrin though, neither of them were who she had wanted.

"Stupid powers! They must be a little off because I'm not feeling good," Rose grumbled to herself.

"What the?! Who are you?" Jo Harvelle, the girlfriend of Dean Winchester who was now an angel, said as she immediately became alarmed to suddenly find herself somewhere else.

"What's going on here?" Cara, the sorceress and girlfriend of Merlin formerly known as Nimueh, asked in surprise.

"I'm sorry, girls. I didn't mean to bring either one of you here. I was trying for Castiel and Merlin instead. You both must have been standing right next to them. I'm a little off today because I'm sick from my pregnancy," Rose apologized.

"I repeat. Who are you? I usually know almost everything, but I don't know a thing about you," Jo said.

"You wouldn't know about me because I'm not from your universe. My name's Rose. Rose Tyler," Rose said as she held out her hand to her.

Jo began to smile as she said, "I do know you. Castiel talks all of the time about you. Sometimes we can't get him to shut up no matter what we try, and we've tried a lot of things believe me. I think he has a huge crush on you. Did you know that he's even a member of your fan club?"

"Fan club? I never knew that I was so popular," Rose said in amusement.

"Rose Tyler? You're the mother of Jenny Tyler?" Cara asked in surprise.

"That's me. I always knew that I'd wind up being known as her mother someday instead of her being known as my daughter. I couldn't be prouder of that," Rose said.

"You don't understand. Jenny changed my life for the better. She saved me. When you see her again, tell her thank you from me," Cara said in an emotional voice as she suddenly hugged Rose tightly surprising her.

"It looks like you have fans in other universes too," Jo observed with a grin.

Castiel suddenly appeared next to Jo with a look of concern on his face as he said, "I'm sorry, Jo. I don't know what happened. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I've just been talking to your hero, Cas," Jo said as she pointed at Rose.

Castiel finally noticed Rose, and he suddenly went silent as he stared at her in awe. Then he began to exhibit a huge smile on his face as he said, "It's very good to see you again, Miss Tyler. I can see now that you brought Jo here when you really wanted me. Is there anything that you want? I'll do anything that you ask as long as it's not immoral of course."

"I just wanted someone to talk to. I'm kind of sick today, and there's no one here. I think that if I don't get to talk to someone for a while that I might just explode," Rose said.

Castiel looked at her in alarm as he said, "I'll be sure to talk with you then so that won't happen. That would be an immense tragedy for the multiverse if it were to occur."

"Cas, she didn't mean that literally. It was just an expression," Jo said with a grin.

"Oh, good," Castiel said with a relieved look on his face.

"Is he for real?" Cara asked Jo.

"He's just very straight forward. He takes everything at face value. Sometimes a little too much so," Jo explained.

"He needs a sense of humor it sounds like to me. Too bad Merlin's not here. He has more than enough of one to spare," Cara said.

"Have you been talking about me again, Cara? You haven't been making me sound too much like an idiot this time I hope," Merlin said with a grin as he suddenly appeared next to her.

"No more than usual. How did you get here?" Cara asked in surprise as she gave him a tender kiss.

"I'm not entirely sure. I saw you suddenly disappear, and then after a few minutes of failing miserably to cast a spell to follow you I was suddenly here. I figure it must be Rose," Merlin said.

"It must be because I'm pretty sure that you haven't mastered interdimensional travel just yet. No offense, Merlin, but you're not quite up to it," Cara said.

"Your faith in me is overwhelming," Merlin said sarcastically.

Rose raised her hand with a guilty look on her face as she said, "I admit it. It was me. I kept trying to bring Merlin here because I wanted to make sure that he was okay. Jenny's been worried about him ever since she got paid a visit by someone made out of flowers whose name she could never tell me because she couldn't pronounce it."

"Blodeuwedd," Merlin said her name like a curse.

"She tried to come see you herself, but she got waylaid somehow and wound up stuck in my past instead. Or at least that's what's going to happen. It hasn't happened for her yet though even though it happened several years ago for me so don't tell her about it if you happen to see her before I do," Rose said.

Merlin looked at her in extreme confusion as he said, "Okay. I think I understood that."

"I'm glad you did because maybe you can explain it to me. I have access to almost unlimited knowledge, and I didn't follow a word of it," Jo said with a frown.

"Oh, no! That's just great. I really am becoming like the Doctor now. That's exactly how I used to look at him whenever he would explain something complicated. That used to be me. Now I'm really depressed," Rose said with a sad look on her face.

"You're certain that you're not going to explode?" Castiel asked in concern.

Rose began to laugh as she said, "No, I'm fine. Thanks, Cas. I needed that."

"Needed what?" Castiel asked.

Rose hugged him as she continued to laugh while she said, "Thank, Cas. I needed a good laugh."

"I'm not certain what I said that was funny," Castiel said with a frown.

"I never thought I'd see this day. I've finally found someone even worse than Arthur. He's totally oblivious to everything," Merlin said as he shook his head at him.

Castiel looked confused as Rose kissed his cheek and said, "It's okay, Cas. It doesn't matter. All that matters is that you made me feel better and not so lonely. I don't even feel as sick anymore as I did before. I knew that I could count on you."

Castiel began to smile as he said, "I'm glad that whatever I did could help."

Jo laughed as Castiel stood there with a huge grin on his face. She knew that he was just loving this. This just proved what she had always thought. He did have a very huge crush on Rose after all. It was a good thing that Anna, his girlfriend, wasn't here. She wouldn't want to be in the middle of that for anything despite being nearly omnipotent.

It was at that moment that the Doctor came back. Now he looked like the one who was sick as he walked completely by Rose's guests while ignoring them completely as he said, "Rose, I didn't do it on purpose."

Rose immediately knew that something was wrong as she asked him, "What did you do this time, Doctor?"

"I didn't mean to do it. It just happened," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, what did you do?" Rose prodded.

"I was just trying to protect Clara. There was a man there who kept hitting on her and wouldn't take no for an answer. So I told him that she was my wife so that he would leave her alone," the Doctor said.

"Oh, is that what you're so worked up about? That's okay, Doctor. Don't worry about it," Rose said.

"You don't understand. I didn't either until right before we left the planet. I found out that by the laws of that world once you call someone your wife that means that you're legally married to them," the Doctor said.

"What?" Rose asked as she tried not to laugh.

"I didn't know I swear. I've never been to that planet before. It's hard to believe I know, but it's true. I just married Clara by accident, and it's a legally recognized marriage now throughout the universe thanks to Galactic Law," the Doctor said with a look of sheer panic on his face.

"You're already married to me though. I married you centuries ago," Rose pointed out.

"I brought that up, and it doesn't seem to matter. It seems that on Seleron it's also legal to have more than one wife. I don't know what to do, Rose. Clara's going to kill me!" the Doctor said as he began to hyperventilate.

Rose started to laugh her head off as she said, "Well, you always did call her your work wife. Now she really is."

"Rose, this is serious. I don't want two wives. I don't even think of Clara that way. She's more like family," the Doctor protested.

"Well, now she really is family," Rose said with amusement.

"What's wrong with you? Aren't you even the slightest bit jealous?" the Doctor asked in despair.

"Not really, no. I mean if it had been Reinette I would be furious but not with Clara. I can laugh at that because I know that Clara has no interest in you whatsoever. Also because I keep picturing your face when she finds out," Rose said as she began to have tears go down her face from laughing so hard.

"Finds out what? What is it that you don't want me to find out, Doctor?" Clara asked behind the Doctor.

"It turns out that the Doctor accidentally married you, Clara," Rose said.

"WHAT?!" Clara screamed.

"I know! That was my reaction too. Yet for some reason, Rose isn't even upset about it! She seems to find it amusing for some reason," the Doctor said.

"You shouldn't be worried about Rose's reaction, Doctor. You should be much, much more worried about mine!" Clara shouted.

The Doctor saw the anger flash through her eyes, and he knew full well what she was about to do next. He cowered before her as he said in a weak voice, "Make it quick."

Clara slapped the Doctor so hard that they could hear it in the next solar system. As the Doctor yelled and rubbed his face in pain, Castiel burst out laughing.

"Now that was funny!" Castiel said.

"Maybe there's hope for you yet, Cas!" Rose said as she grinned at him.

**Next: More fun with the characters of Merlin and Supernatural even as the Doctor tries to find a way out of his latest predicament. Can the Doctor get a divorce or will Clara become a lot closer to the Doctor than she ever wanted to be? The Doctor might not live through this one, folks! **


End file.
